Lost and Blind
by Tharkun 140
Summary: Ruby's life had never been easy, but it had always been simple. As a faunus slave, all she had to do was to follow orders from humans and hope for the best. When she meets her new owner, however, things get a little more complicated. She just hopes it will end up being a change for better.
1. Less than Perfect

**The three people who actually follow my account might wonder why the hell I'm writing another story, when I have several ongoing ones already. The answer is that, while I know it would be probably better to focus on one story at the time, I just have too many ideas and not enough self-discipline not to use them. **

**This is an alternate universe fic. The setting does not diverge from the original timeline at any specific point in time, it is simply a different world with some parallels to the original. Likewise, each character, while bearing similarities to their original counterpart and having a similar basic personality, is a different person shaped by different experiences and has a different set of goals.**

**Another thing to remember is that here, the narration will be written from a singular perspective. It means that information available to the narrator, and thus the readers, will often be limited and/or unreliable. Sometimes the distortions will be obvious, sometimes not so much.**

**Also, this story is bound to be dark. As in, Black Out The Sky level dark, or at least somewhat close to it. Topics like slavery, racism and abuse are central to the plot and will be explored at length. You read at your own risk.**

**With that overly long intro out of the way, let us begin.**

* * *

Ruby descended down the stairs, careful not to trip and fall down. Nearly every one of her muscles ached after a day of work, although it wasn't really work itself that made her so tired. There was only so much to do in a single household and the girl was used to menial labor by now. Rather, it was this constant tension that exhausted her. The knowledge that any mistake or negligence on her part would earn her a beating, maybe a lashing if she annoyed her owner enough. She still had some marks on her back, a reminder of the last time she accidentally broke something. At least she managed to avoid abuse that day, save for the insults that stopped bothering her a long time ago.

After finally managing to reach the bottom of the stairs, Ruby eyed the basement's contents. Everything was exactly as she left it, not that there _was_ much stuff there. The only items there were an old rug that made for her bedding, a water bowl, now-empty food bowl, a lamp hanging from the ceiling and Ruby's spare set of clothes lying folded in the corner.

Ruby's living quarters were not comfortable by any means. But then again, who would be concerned about her comfort? She was just a slave, expected to work from dusk till dawn and be grateful she had a roof over her head.

She fell down on a mat that made for her bedding. To be fair, those conditions were hardly the worst Ruby had been kept in over the years. Unlike some before him, her current owner fed her every day, if only because he found it amusing to have her eat from a bowl, as befitting of a dog faunus. She was fairly sure her tail was that of a wolf, though correcting her master was obviously out of the question.

Ruby's life was less than perfect to say the least, but then again... she couldn't imagine, let alone lead any other.

As most faunus, Ruby had been born a slave. She had been separated from her parents at a young age, taught to follow orders and perform basic jobs and then sold to some human who needed a domestic servant. From then on, her life had been nothing but an endless, repetitive cycle of working and sleeping. The only difference between one day and another was whether she was fed, beaten, both or neither. She still couldn't decide which one of the latter two she liked more.

And it would continue up until the day she died. It wasn't pessimism on her part, there was simply no other option. Ruby knew that in the past at least some faunus used to be free, but that has changed... how many years ago? Before her birth, surely. There was no change in sight, no chance for humans to ever stop holding the faunus in bondage. There was no chance for Ruby to break free on her own either - even if she evaded capture, there simply was nowhere for her to run towards. Unless she were to live in a forest with actual wolves - which was a cool idea, but hardly realistic - there was no place for her outside closed walls. Her current life, harsh it could be, would just have to continue.

Still, at least that day was over. With no more duties to perform and no other way to spend her time, Ruby could just let sleep take her away…

"Animal! Come over here!"

Or not. Ruby stood up again with some effort and then made her way up the stairs with even more effort. She would much rather stay in the basement rather than have to deal with her owner right now, but disobeying a direct order would certainly earn her a punishment and not one she would soon forget.

A few seconds later Ruby found herself back on the ground floor of the house. It was fairly clean - no prize for guessing who should be thanked for that - but by no means well-ordered in the usual sense. There were weapons placed in strange places, pieces of paper lying here and there and the furniture itself was placed rather inefficiently. The owner of the house claimed to prefer practicality over esthetics, whatever those words meant. To Ruby it seemed like he was too lazy to rearrange things and too proud to let his slave decide what should be placed where. Though of course, that wasn't an opinion she would ever voice.

Upon making it to the living room, Ruby saw her owner sitting on a couch. Cardin Winchester, a licensed huntsmen who graduated from Beacon Academy a few years back. Ruby wasn't sure how he had managed that, since huntsmen were supposed to be noble warriors and not petty jerks who enjoyed tormenting animals, but that that was just another opinion she would never state out loud.

In spite of Ruby's worries, he didn't appear upset at her or anything else for that matter. In fact, he seemed quite content, as if something just went his way.

Somehow, that worried her even more.

"Ugh, it took you a while." Cardin commented. Ruby opened her mouth to give him an apology, but he wouldn't let her speak. "Doesn't matter. I have some news for you."

Ruby came a bit closer, but still kept her distance. She stood there with her hands put together and her muscles tensed, prepared to immediately follow an order if she was to be given one or to curl into a ball if she were to be beaten.

"I don't really like talking to you, so I'll be brief. I'm selling you to someone else. Everything is arranged already, so you're officially not my problem anymore."

Ruby found herself surprised at those news, but only mildly. Being sold wasn't new to her by any means - she passed through many owners over the course of her life, most of whom only needed her for a year or less before handing her over to another human. She had only lived with Cardin for a few months by now, but she supposed it made sense that he wanted to be rid of her already since, as he made abundantly clear many times over, he wasn't fully satisfied with her service.

They weren't exactly bad news either. While Cardin deserved some credit for feeding his slave regularly, he was pretty brutal when it came to punishments. Ruby doubted her new owner would be much worse than him.

"The guy's name is Jaune Arc. Fellow graduate from Beacon. Ever told you about him?"

Ruby shook her head. Cardin bragged about his time in Beacon Academy and his later 'career' as a huntsmen quite often, but he rarely mentioned other people aside from his teammates. He was just that self-centered, it seemed.

"Well, he is a full-fledged huntsmen now. Maybe not as good as me, but a cool guy nonetheless. We fought together during the Fall of Shade and he is a hell of a fighter. Knows how to deal with faunus as well."

And Ruby could already see the problem. Anyone whom Cardin liked, especially for their attitude towards the faunus, was not a person Ruby wanted to be around, let alone to have power over her.

Still... how bad could it be?

"His father was a general in the Valean army." Cardin continued. "Served during the Faunus Rebellions. I believe the whole Arc family hates your kind, and Jaune surely does."

The Faunus Rebellions. Ruby didn't know much about them, since nobody bothered to properly tech her history - she had only been taught how to read and count before being sent to work. As far as she knew, it came down to a bunch of faunus who got way over their heads and tried to overthrow the humans, only to get crushed by the Kingdom's combined effort. The lucky ones died fighting or got enslaved again, while the unlucky ones got horribly executed as an example to the rest of their species.

Ruby didn't really care about the specifics anyway. All that mattered was that the rebellion was the reason for much of the hatred humans bore against the faunus and that being owned by someone whose family fought in that war was less than perfect.

"He actually owned a slave a few years back. A female one, though one a bit older and more valuable than you. It didn't stop him from killing her though."

Ruby could swear it just got colder in the living room. It really was less than perfect. It was far less than perfect.

"Yup. I'm not sure what exactly happened, he doesn't really talk about that much. Maybe it was intentional, maybe he got a bit carried away while disciplining her. Or maybe she actually showed some guts killed herself, preferring death to staying with him. Maybe you can ask him once you get there."

Crap. The majority of slaves died either from some disease they caught or, in the case of those performing hard labor, work-induced exhaustion. Most humans valued their faunus enough not to kill them or torment them to the point of suicide. Ruby always thought that, since she wasn't tough enough to work in the mines or in the fields anyway, she would survive until full adulthood at worst and until old age at best. Unfortunately, it looked as though she wouldn't get even that lucky.

"I figured I would tell you that, just so you have a chance of surviving." Cardin said, undoubtedly taking enjoyment from seeing Ruby afraid. "Anyways, that is all. You can go back to your hole for all I care."

Luckily, Ruby still had enough self-control left to bow before leaving and slowly stepped back. After she was out of her owner's sight, she rushed towards the basement.

She needed some time to think. She had been in many bad situations before. Even some really bad ones. But that...

That was really, really bad.

/-/

A night passed by. Ruby caught very little sleep, despite her tiredness. She kept imagining and, after sleep finally overtook her, dreaming up different scenarios, most of which were pretty grim. During the day she was ordered to perform some final tasks, such as cleaning the basement now that she was about to depart it. In a way, she was grateful for being given something to do, as any distraction from the stressful thoughts was welcome at that point.

If Cardin had been honest with her, then she was about to be handed over to some sort of cruel monster who already tormented one slave to death. It was a terrible situation if there ever was one, but as per usual, Ruby didn't exactly have many ways to change it. She could simply make a run for it, but the chances of escaping successfully were pretty much zero, as there wasn't anywhere she could run towards. And after getting caught she would get punished in some horrible, possibly lethal way. She could only play along.

Before leaving she took time to do something unusual for her, that is look in the mirror. She generally only did that to see whether the wounds were healing well and such, but that was different. For the first time in quite a while she was concerned about her appearance, though not for the reasons humans tended to.

Ruby wore a black shirt that was ripped in more than one place and trousers that have seen better days as well, both dirty and covered in stains. Ruby's skin wasn't in great condition either, as every patch of it bore some signs of damage, mostly in the form of bruises and red marks. Though it couldn't be seen in the mirror right now, her feet have acquired quite a few cuts as a result of going barefooted almost all the time. Even her tail looked miserably right now, hanging down as a result of its owner's anxiousness. To put it bluntly, Ruby was a picture of misery.

But that would hopefully work to her advantage. She could hardly expect any compassion from a human, especially one that hated the faunus instead of just despising them, but maybe she could still earn some pity. At the very least, signs of abuse would tell her new master that she had already been trained properly and that there was no need to inflict even more pain. Then again, it would also imply she had been disobedient in the past...

_You know it's pointless. _Ruby's mental voice of reason spoke. _Even if appearance really does matter here, you can't exactly change it very much, can you? Just do as you are told and keep your mouth shut, like always. If it won't persuade the guy not to hurt you, nothing will._

Ruby had to concede that point. Pessimistic as it was, voice of reason was usually correct and gave her useful, if repetitive advice.

She heard another voice, one that didn't come from inside her had. She couldn't make out the exact words, but it seemed like Cardin was calling her.

Ruby immediately spun on her feet and headed towards the exit. At no point did she feel an urge to look behind her - she had no fond memories of living in this house and she was glad to be leaving it, even though what awaited her could be worse yet.

As she opened the exit door the faunus was hit with a wave of cool air, as expected of an autumn evening. She shivered slightly, her clothing doing little to shield her from the cold, but she still made her way outside, closing the door behind her.

Cracked moon provided Ruby with more than enough light to see clearly. As expected, Cardin was waiting for her next to the car. A small truck to be specific, with two seats at the front. Not that both would be occupied. Ruby approached the vehicle and wordlessly jumped into the trunk. She half-expected her (former?) master to rebuke her for not arriving fast enough and maybe even inflict some punishment, but he only slammed the lid shut, leaving her in darkness but not harming her in any way. He probably wouldn't do much even if he thought she deserved a punishment, as that would mean handing his friend a damaged product.

A sound of igniting engine could be heard, indicating that the car was about to start. And surely, a few seconds later Ruby felt a pull. It wasn't very sharp, as the vehicle was accelerating slowly, but she was sure there would be at least several sudden stops along the way, so she curled up as to not suffer any injury to the head. Just the charms of travelling in the trunk of a car.

The ride lasted maybe an hour, though it wasn't like Ruby had a way to tell exactly. Regardless, soon after the truck stopped for real and the engine was turned off, the girl was let out. As in, harshly shoved into the driveway of a house, barely managing to land on all fours. Ruby did have rather fast reflexes, which came in handy from time to time.

As she stood up, the girl examined the house she would be staying in. From the outside it looked similar to the one she just left - not big enough for a full family, more than large enough for a single resident and a servant. It was, however, in far better state, as there were no signs of age visible. The building was probably very young, or was maintained exceptionally well.

Ruby couldn't make out more than that, as almost immediately after getting up she was pulled by her hair and dragged towards the entrance door. Cardin was often like that - taking any excuse to remind her of her place.

Then again, if what she had been told was true, her new master would probably make her miss the previous one after a while.

Upon reaching the entrance, Cardin rang the doorbell. He still kept one hand in Ruby's hair, as if he feared she might try to run away. To be fair, nerves made that prospect seem extremely tempting. Yet even still, Ruby had enough common sense to know that pulling off something like that would make for a _really _bad first impression.

After a few moments and multiple clicks of locks the door opened. In the entrance stood a young man whom Ruby could only assume to be Jaune Arc. He certainly looked like a huntsman - while he wasn't as tall as Cardin, he still stood at least a head taller than Ruby. He had blonde hair, fair skin... and that's just about all she was able to make out before she lowered her head and focused her attention on the ground. Some humans found it offensive when a faunus met them in the eye and she already resolved herself not to take any unnecessary risks.

She must have looked truly pathetic at that moment. Subdued, wearing torn clothes and lacking the courage to even raise her eyes. Then again, that was how she wanted to appear.

"Evening." Cardin said. "I brought the animal you asked for. Not sure why you'd want that one, but here you go."

"You'd be a pretty poor vender, you know that?" Arc spoke. The tone of his voice was little higher than she would have expected from somebody of his stature, though the contrast wasn't as jarring as with Cardin. Was that just a thing with huntsmen?

"Whatever. She is barely worth the food she's getting anyway." Ruby could tell Cardin had an urge to spit at her, but apparently even he had some semblance of manners. "Annoying too. Sure you don't want a whip or something?"

"Won't be necessary." Arc said dismissively, causing Ruby to shiver slightly. Did he already havea whip readied? Or maybe he had even worse methods devised for her? "Would that be all?"

"Looks like it. I better drive back home."

"Farewell then." Arc replied. They might have shook hands - Ruby wouldn't have seen that, as her eyes were still focused firmly on the ground. Unfortunately, that meant she didn't see Cardin before he barged past her, nearly toppling her to the ground. Still, she managed to stay standing as her former owner walked off back towards the car.

She then heard Arc let out a long, exasperated sigh. It caused Ruby to tense immediately. Has she already managed to annoy him somehow? Should she expect a punishment?

No, she literally hasn't done anything as of yet. There was nothing she could be punished for, other than breathing perhaps. Then again, her new owner didn't really need a good reason to hurt her. Some humans would discipline their slaves on the first day simply to show them what kind of punishments they could expect.

"Ruby, is that right?" The question took Ruby by surprise, but she answered as quickly as she could.

"Yes, master." she said meekly, still not raising her eyes. It was seemingly a correct kind of response, as she received no rebuke. Instead, her master approached her and gently lifted up her chin.

"Hey, look at me. I don't bite." He said calmly. Ruby hesitantly lifted her head up in response and stared the young man into his blue eyes that seemed to be judging her thoroughly right now.

She felt somewhat uncomfortable this way - looking a human in the eye could be read as challenging them, something that Ruby was desperately trying to avoid. She instead wanted to show herself as submissive, which was entirely accurate anyways. There was no challenge from her, no resistance, she was just waiting for the next order and would gladly carry it out.

Apparently, she succeeded at looking miserable, as Arc only gave a her a comforting smile. He then turned towards the door and stepped back inside the house.

"Come in." An order came. Ruby was quick to obey - she stepped through the doorframe and into the house. She welcomed the warmth of the interior, though obviously she had more important things to worry about than temperature.

The inside of the house was just about what she expected. Spacious, mostly empty and with visible signs of a huntsman living around there, such as stains of Grimm ichor on the floor. It was more orderly than Cardin's house, but not quite as clean - its owner needed a slave for something after all.

"Will you lock the door please?" Arc asked. Ruby once again obeyed immediately, turning to face the door. It had two locks and several chains on it, which indicated a slight paranoia on behalf of its owner. Naturally, she didn't share this observation with said owner and instead shut the door and began working on the locks. It took her a while to get through them all, upon which she turned back towards her owner, awaiting further orders.

"Thanks. Now follow me. I'll show you where you can sleep" With these words, Arc turned around and walked deeper into the house.

Ruby followed, mentally sighing in relief. Apparently, there wasn't any day-one discipline prepared for her. For the first time since arriving to this place, she felt somewhat safe. Still, she wouldn't let her guard down. Not when she was still in the presence of a human, especially that particular one.

Arc led her upstairs, which surprised Ruby a fair bit. She would usually sleep in the basement, or next to the fireplace if it was really cold. Rooms on the second floor were always reserved for actual residents of the house.

Maybe he wanted her to sleep in the attic. It would actually make sense considering how her owner undoubtedly perceived her. A worthless item that should be stuffed someplace where it won't bother anybody.

But weirdly enough, Arc ignored the clap in the ceiling which likely lead to the attic and instead walked towards one of the doors and held it open, gesturing for Ruby to come in.

Upon entering the room, Ruby blinked. And then she blinked two more times.

The room was fairly spacious. It contained a wardrobe, a small desk and a bed standing in a corner. There was a carpet covering the central part of the floor. The wall opposite to the door had a curtained window on it and a heater beneath. A lamp was hanging down from the ceiling and was now illuminating the room.

"Is there something wrong?" As her master said that, Ruby realized that she had been standing still for several seconds.

"Um..." She struggled to find the right words to say, but ultimately settled on asking a straight-forward question. "You want me to sleep here?"

"Well, yes." The blond man answered bluntly. "It is late and you do seem tired. Is there any problem?"

"No!" Ruby was quick to reply. "It's just... shouldn't I be sleeping on the basement floor or something like that?"

Arc stayed quiet for a second, as if pondering what answer to give. Ruby realized that she had just questioned his decision, which could get her punished. Luckily, it didn't seem like her master was very angry.

"You might be right." He finally said with a shrug. "But there is no actual basement here, so that will have to do."

Ruby blinked a couple times more. This time, she really couldn't come up with anything to say.

"Anyways, you should get some sleep." Arc said, as he turned around and passed through the door. "Night."

As her master closed the door, Ruby kept standing still, processing what just happened.

So, this guy didn't have a basement to put her in, so he instead prepared a nice, clean room for her. That... didn't really make much sense. He could have sent her pretty much anywhere. Living room, corridor, or just this room but without the redundant comforts. She supposed the clock would keep her from oversleeping and the sheets would serve to keep her warm, but the rest wouldn't make her any more efficient. So why bother?

_I've got a better question; Why does that even matter? _Ruby's voice of reason pointed out. _Are you going to walk over to him and explain why he's wrong and that he should treat you worse? Yeah, thought so. Just take what you're given and don't think too much._

That sounded like a very good advice. It wasn't like she could question her owner's decisions - he could keep her in whatever place he wanted. If that place happened to be nice and cozy, who was she to complain?

And Ruby did really need some sleep. She had barely caught any the night before and she would be needing all of her strength soon - the first day in a household was always harsh like that. She would probably be worked to the bone over the next day.

Ruby turned off the light, as it was unlikely she would be able to sleep with it being so bright. She then approached the bed, squashing the inclination to take off the bedding as she has done numerous times, and instead lied down on it.

It was soft. Almost annoyingly so_. _Ruby was pretty sure she used to sleep on a bed back in her childhood, but she couldn't really recall what it felt like. Was it normally like this? Could you really sleep on something like that?

She was snoring a few moments later.


	2. Sense of Security

**I'd like to thank you all for your attention and, more specifically, your reviews. It's kind of annoying when you don't get to hear much opinion about your writing, so I appreciate all the support and criticism like.**

**Speaking of which, you are right, my use of past tenses is pretty atrocious. I've been learning English for a while now and I have a decent word processor, but sometimes I make mistakes regarding the syntax and such. I hope there aren't many such problems in this chapter.**

**One criticism I don't get though is that Ruby has too much free thought for a slave. I mean, slavery isn't the same as mind control. It doesn't rob you of the capacity to form thoughts, at least not usually. This version of Ruby is psychologically messed up, sure, but still can - and has to in order to function - make decisions and form opinions. It's just that those decisions are strongly influenced by fear, rational or not. I have never been a slave myself, but I'm pretty sure those are the natural effects of leading such a life.**

**With yet another overly-long intro out of the way, let us begin.**

* * *

Ruby awoke from her slumber. It has been surprisingly peaceful, without any of the nightmares that would sometimes haunt her. Only these chaotic, but fairly pleasant dreams about her childhood, the times when she had someone to care about her and she wasn't living in constant fear. She could still remember her mother, a wolf faunus just like Ruby herself, and she could vaguely remember having a sister before being taken away. Reminiscing about them was painful, but dreaming felt really nice.

Of course, reality always had to come back at the end. Ruby blinked a few times to clear her vision and looked around the room. Everything was exactly as she remembered it from yesterday, except now the light was flooding the room through the east-facing window and the clock on the wall was showing eight o'clock.

It took Ruby a split second to process that information.

She then jumped out of her bed and ran towards the door, mentally cursing herself all the way through. Her master didn't give her exact rules, but there was no way getting up so late was alright. Cardin would beat her every time she slept past six and, somehow, she doubted her current owner would be any more merciful.

Speaking of the devil, Ruby saw Arc as soon as she exited the room. He was now wearing a rather silly-looking pajama, which would serve to amuse Ruby if she wasn't so scared.

And she _was_ really scared. She froze in fear the moment she spotted the man, unsure as to what to do. She could go back into the room and try to barricade the door or something like that, but realistically, it wouldn't stop her master from enacting a punishment on her and would certainly anger him even more. She could try to make up some excuse or just beg for forgiveness, but at the moment, she couldn't come up with anything to say.

So instead she just stood there, as Arc spotted her. He walked up to her and… smiled?

"Good morning Ruby. How are you feeling?"

Ruby blinked. Had she misheard? Was she still asleep? No, it really seemed as though the whole situation was real and she had just received a friendly greeting from her master.

She had no idea why the man in front of her wasn't yelling at her or hitting her already. All she knew at that moment was that she had to respond somehow, or else she would be guilty of insolence in addition to oversleeping.

"Good." She said, knowing it was good to sound appreciative. "I feel great. Everything's nice and fine."

"Well that's good to hear." Arc was now giving her a questioning look, but still didn't appear upset. "Anyways, I'm going to work in an hour. If you could prepare breakfast before then, that would be great."

"Yes master!" Ruby exclaimed and turned towards the stairs, but then she realized it would be proper to ask for some specifics. "But, what should I make?"

"Just make some scrambled eggs I guess." Arc responded after a moment. "There are enough eggs in the fridge for you to prepare two portions. Do that and I will join you downstairs in half an hour or so."

"I understand." Ruby said, having calmed down a little already. She waited a second to make sure that her master didn't have anything else to say, after which she bowed slightly and made her way downstairs.

What was that? Why would her master be so polite to her even after she screwed up? Maybe he was still sleepy and hadn't noticed his slave oversleeping, or maybe he decided to forgive her first offense. Either way, Ruby had to be really careful not to do anything wrong from now on, as she was unlikely to get lucky like that again.

She vaguely remembered how it was on the ground floor, so she had no trouble finding the kitchen. Not that it was particularly hard anyway, as the kitchen was open and visible from the living room. It consisted of a fridge, a toaster, a sink with several dirty plates in it, a cooking plate and a microwave. Nice and simple. Ruby didn't have to learn how something functioned, she could just get to work immediately.

The fridge wasn't exactly full of food, but there were indeed enough eggs to make a breakfast out of it. It was a little surprising that her owner specifically asked for two portions – he didn't seem obese or anything, and even if he had that much of an appetite, it made more sense to just order Ruby to make a double-sized portion or something like that. But again, she was supposed to follow orders, not think about them.

She picked up a carton with eggs and placed in on the kitchen table, alongside with a frying pan, a bottle of oil and some milk. She placed the pan at the plate, poured some oil and turned the fire on. She waited a few moments before starting to break the eggs one after the other and dropping the insides onto the pan. After waiting for several moments, she poured a drop of milk onto the pan and mixed it all together. Soon enough, she managed to prepare a fairly tasty-looking meal.

A simple procedure, without much place to screw up. Ruby could have left it there and called her job done, but she decided it was fairly safe to take some creative liberty and make toasts as well. She was very unlikely to be punished for doing so and it would show that she had good intentions and was trying to please her master, not just doing the bare minimum required of her.

A while later that was done as well and Ruby had two plates of food ready. Her stomach grumbled at the sight - and even more at the smell - but she reminded herself that it was usually better to go hungry than face a punishment for stealing food like that. Besides, there was good chance she would be thrown some remains afterwards.

After a while her master entered a kitchen, now dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. He looked surprisingly fresh for someone who had just woken up, not showing much sleepiness. Upon seeing the food on the table he smiled towards his slave, threw in a quick 'thanks' and sat down before one of the plates.

Ruby sighed with relief. It looked as though her efforts had been taken well and she wouldn't be punished for screwing something up. Right now, she was just waiting until she got officially dismissed or told to do something else.

But Arc didn't seem eager to dismiss her. He was just looking at her with an expression of puzzlement.

"Um, Ruby?" He asked, somewhat awkwardly, as though he was confused by something.

"Yes?" Ruby's relief gave way to worry again. Had she done something wrong after all?

"Aren't you going to eat?"

Ruby blinked. She then looked at the table and two plates of food on it, her master's request to prepare to separate portions suddenly making a lot more sense.

Except it didn't. Not really. Why would a human want their slave to eat with them? It was just... weird. You didn't let a faunus eat at the table just like you wouldn't let a dog, even if it could use a fork. It just wasn't proper.

"I mean, you don't have to, but it will get cold after a while."

Well it was proper for her master, and that was all that really mattered. Hesitantly, Ruby took another chair and sat at a table, grabbing a fork on her way there - she wasn't exactly sure how table manners went, but eating with bare hands was probably frowned upon.

Satisfied that Ruby would eat as well, Arc turned his attention towards the food and started consuming it. The faunus followed suite, though a bit nervously, as she was very unused to eating with actual cutlery, let alone on the same table as her master.

The taste on her tongue, however, made her temporarily forget the strangeness of the situation. She had almost forgotten how nice it felt to eat something warm and fresh. So far her diet was composed mostly of tasteless porridge and whatever remains were thrown her way and a breakfast like that was a really nice change of pace.

It didn't take her very long to utterly annihilate the meal in front of her. Arc ate his portion far less rapidly, but he also finished a while later and put the plate down.

Ruby stood up, her instincts kicking in, and took both the platters from the table and into the washing basin. She waited for a moment, just in case her owner wanted her to do something else instead, but upon hearing nothing from him she started to wash the dirtied dishes - the sponge and the cleaning liquid were both conveniently lying right next to the sink.

"Well, I have to go now." Arc said once Ruby had finished her task. "In case you don't know, I'm running a gym downtown and I've got to be there in half an hour. I'll come back around six, I think. I'll then go out once again for a quick huntsmen assignment. I'd like to eat a dinner in the meantime, so prepare something with what ingredients you can find."

"Alright." Ruby said, without meeting her master in the eye. "What else do you want me to do?"

"I suppose you could clean up in my room a little. It is in a bit of a mess right now." Arc said after a few seconds of thinking.

Ruby nodded, feeling strangely relieved. Those were actually normal orders. They weren't very demanding and didn't have a threat attached to them, but it was still a familiar ground for her. She felt a bit more in control this way, even if she really had no control over anything in her life.

"And Ruby?" He added while taking his jacket off the hook. "You look kind of dirty yourself. You should probably take a shower."

And normality went out of the window again. What kind of order was that? Shower, as in the bathroom, was a thing reserved for humans. You did not let the faunus use it. And you certainly didn't order them to do so.

Still, Ruby knew better than to comment on that. She simply watched her owner put on his shoes, wave her goodbye and exit through the door.

/-/

After Jaune Arc left for work, Ruby found herself unsure as to what she should do first. After few minutes of thinking - during which her voice of reason urged her to stop wasting time and get going - she came up with a decent plan, or at least what looked like a decent plan.

First she searched the house for any devices that could be used for inflicting punishment. There were none, not even something as simple as a rod. It was weird, but not too weird. Maybe her owner just intended to smack her around in case she disobeyed him. She was unsure whether or not it was a good thing - straight-up punches usually hurt less than lashes or burns, but if the person handing them out wasn't careful, they could end up seriously hurting their victim. And now that she thought about it, it did make for a good explanation as to why one of Arc's slaves ended up dead.

Still, she felt a little better knowing what she was standing on. And besides, her master had been gentle with her thus far. He almost seemed fond of her, for reasons unknown.

Once her anxiousness had been eased a little, Ruby got to actual work. She headed towards the room she remembered as belonging to her owner and carefully entered it. It was not much larger than hers but it was far more decorated. There was the bed, the desk and the wardrobe, but the desk had a computer and a bunch of papers on it, wardrobe was filled with clothes - including an impressive suit of armor - and there was a couple of framed pictures on the walls, portraying people Ruby did not recognize and did not care about very much.

While the place wasn't exactly filthy, it definitely did require cleaning, as evidenced by a pair of pants lying on the floor and a garbage bin in the corner that was overflowing with rubbish.

Which was sort of nice, really. Just enough for her to do to make her look useful. Useful slaves generally got beaten less and were given more to eat. Then again, her master appeared quite generous anyways. She still had no clue why. He kept showing her kindness, even though she was yet to do anything to deserve it.

No, those weren't really gestures of kindness. Kindness was when your owner threw you a dirty blanket when it was cold or when they forgave you for looking at them in the wrong way. What Arc was doing with her was closer to insanity.

_You have already wasted enough time thinking about this. _Ruby's voice of reason chastised the rest of Ruby. _Just get to work already._

Ruby obeyed the voice and started working. She first took care of the obvious stuff, such as throwing out the garbage and making the bed properly and only then, after bringing the cleaning supplies from the kitchen, she began to clear the floor and furniture.

That last part took her several hours. Not because it had to - the room wasn't that filthy after all. She just wanted to make sure that she would not leave anything to be desired. She would work like that for even longer if there was no reason not to, but the layer of sweat gathered on her brow reminded her that she needed to keep herself clean as well.

After putting the cleaning supplies back on their place, Ruby headed towards the bathroom. It wasn't very large and didn't really have to be - it consisted only of a shower, a washbasin with a mirror near it and some shelves. There were surprisingly many cosmetics lying around - from what Ruby knew about humans, it was mostly the females who kept many weird products like that and usually even they didn't have as many as there were here. But then again, who was she to judge if she didn't know what most of these things did?

Speaking of which, the faunus wasn't exactly sure what she should do. She knew how shower operated, of course, but she didn't know how _she _in particular was expected to use it. Was there some limit on how much water she should use? And just how clean she had to get? Since there was nobody to ask, Ruby figured she just needed to take a guess at what amount of water was reasonable.

Ruby took off her clothes and threw them onto a shelf in the corner of the room. She wished she had a cleaner set somewhere, as putting back those dirty rags again would sort of defeat the point of getting cleaned up, but she wouldn't be washing them now, so she just had to deal with that.

Somewhat nervously, Ruby stepped into a cabin. The interior looked like any other shower humans used, with a head hanging from the wall and a valve used to regulate the temperature and intensity of the water stream. The faunus closed the door so that she wouldn't end up wetting the floor, stood under the shower head and turned the water on.

It felt amazing. The last time Ruby had showered was in the slave barracks a few months back, but it was a communal shower and there was only cold water flowing. Here, the experience was completely different. She could now understand why humans felt a need to wash themselves so often, even though they rarely got dirty.

Utilizing the soap she found on the shelf, Ruby begun to scrub the grime from her skin. It took her quite a while to do that properly, but eventually she managed to mostly get rid of dirt from her body. When she was satisfied with the results, she turned the water off and, not having a towel at hand, stood there for a while, waiting for her body to dry a little.

Showering like that, as well as being clean in general, felt pretty great. She now had yet another reason to be grateful to Arc for how he treated her.

Dang it. No matter how hard she tried not to think about it, her thoughts always turned towards the topic of Arc and his weird behavior. If he was just some random human, maybe Ruby would give him a benefit of a doubt and assume he wanted to treat her like a pet of sorts. If that was the case, then more power to him - being treated like a pet was a significant step up from being treated like cattle.

That sounded way too optimistic though. Ruby still remembered what Cardin told her about Arc's previous slave and it didn't speak well of him. Sure, it was possible that he only killed his old servant by accident and was now hoping to avoid a similar loss by treating his new slave with more care, but he should still show at least some contempt towards a faunus, whose species he supposedly hated.

He could have been trying to lure her into a sense of security in hopes that she would get too relaxed and provide an excuse to punish her. Granted, he had already passed up on such an excuse at least once, but maybe he just didn't want to punish Ruby at that moment because he needed her to do some stuff. For all she knew, Arc could give her a beating of a lifetime immediately upon returning from work.

Ruby really hoped that wasn't the case.

Alternatively, there might have been something Arc wanted from Ruby, though she would never guess what exactly that was. Sure, there some masters would promise their slaves better treatment in exchange for hard work, but that only applied to skilled slaves, whose work had a real value such as mechanics or secretaries. Ruby was merely a house maid - though even that was a generous title, considering that she wasn't even given a nice uniform to wear.

Her owner had no reason to try and win her over - he could force her to do just about anything and take anything he wanted from her, not that she had that much in the first place. The only thing that Ruby could consider 'hers' were the clothes she was wearing at the moment. Well, not at that moment, she was still...

Ruby froze.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror. She wasn't dirty anymore, but she still looked pretty miserable. Her body wasn't as malnourished as some slaves she had once seen, but it was still in a pretty poor shape, ribs visible through her skin. Said skin itself wasn't in the best shape - it was pale from years spent indoors and there were some whip marks that still hadn't faded.

All things considered, Ruby was hardly attractive. One could maybe call her cute, but only in a 'lost puppy' kind of way. Something that you could feel sorry for, but not something sexually arousing.

But what if her new owner didn't mind that? Ruby knew humans could have strange tastes, including that particular area. From what she had heard, some of them would buy faunus children to use them in that manner, enjoying the pain inflicted on the poor souls. While Ruby never experienced anything like that - she had been that lucky at least - it stood to reason that a human like Arc might find her appealing in a similar way.

The realization almost made Ruby trip and fall on the spot. The weight of her horrible situation was pressing on her more than ever before. It was even worse than she originally feared- simply following orders, even to the point of perfection, would not prevent her from being hurt.

_There is still a chance that he is messing with you... if so, then it doesn't really matter what you do, because you are screwed anyways. _Voice of Reason was struggling to find any kind of useful advice or encouragement.

Right now, Ruby sort of hoped that her first theory would prove correct and that her master was planning to hurt her in some mundane way. At least then she could simply beg for mercy, if only in-between the screams of pain. Groveling was something she was used to and was fairly good at, unlike... whatever she was supposed to do now.

Should she play along and hope to gain some favor with her master? After all, Ruby wasn't a child. She could enjoy things like that... probably. And it couldn't be too terrible as long as her master tried to be gentle, right?

The shivers this thought brought indicated otherwise. No, avoiding this kind of treatment was a priority. There had to be another way.

Maybe running away was an option after all? At least it gave her _some _chance at avoiding suffering and wasn't that better than no chance at all? Except she didn't think that whatever Arc was planning on doing to her would really end up being worse than the punishment she'd receive upon getting caught. At best, she would be tortured and then sent back to her master, having achieved nothing but bringing more pain upon herself. At worst she would end up getting brutally killed or sent to the Schnee mines to die a drawn-out death from exhaustion. Committing suicide would be more reasonable, but Ruby doubted she had enough resolve to pull that off.

But maybe that was the right trail thought. Instead of outright killing herself, Ruby could hurt herself somehow as to appear less attractive. She could just burn her face with boiling water and play it off as an accident. It would hurt, really hurt, but at least if would be a familiar pain and she would only have to experience it once...

No. She couldn't make any drastic choices like that, at least not while she still wasn't sure what she was standing on and while fear clouded her judgment.

Lacking any better idea, Ruby put her clothes back on and returned to cleaning. Not because it was still necessary - she had already done quite a good job with that - but so that she could focus on something other than all the horrible scenarios her mind kept conjuring up.

/-/

After several hours, when sun was setting behind the horizon, Ruby heard the sounds of door being opened up. She considered walking over to the door and greeting her owner there, but she figured she might as well wait for him in the kitchen with the dinner ready.

Even though she had to work with limited ingredients, Ruby did a fairly good job preparing a meal, or least she thought so. She made a casserole out of potatoes she found in one of the shelves, which wasn't particularly hard. Right now the dish was lying on the kitchen blat, having been pulled out of the oven only a few moments ago. It smelled quite appetizingly, enough to make Ruby's stomach rumble. It irritated her a little - she had already eaten not so long ago, so she shouldn't be feeling hungry.

Arc soon entered the kitchen area. He looked somewhat tired, but he still conjured up a smile upon seeing Ruby.

"Evening. How was your day?"

"I did everything exactly as you asked." Ruby quickly replied. "I cleaned your room, got myself washed and prepared this for dinner." Ruby gestured towards the food. "I hope I did well enough."

"That's not what I meant..." Jaune said, confusing Ruby once again. "But yes, you did well. Now prepare the plates please. I'm going out for a hunt in a moment so I would rather eat right away."

Ruby bowed slightly and did as instructed, placing two plates with appropriate cutlery on the table. Since her master didn't have anything to say about that, she assumed that he indeed wanted her to eat again. With a spoon she placed a portion of the casserole on Arc's plate and another - though a smaller one, as to avoid being chastised for eating too much - on her own platter.

Once again, they ate in silence and it wasn't a comfortable one. Ruby was once again nervously observing her owner, this time looking not so much at sings of aggression, but rather at signs of interest, attraction of some kind. Luckily, he appeared more focused on the food than anything else at the moment.

"Well, thank you for the meal Ruby." He said after both of them had finished eating, after which he stood up and walked back into the living room. "Now come, I have something for you."

Ruby shivered. That didn't sound very good given her suspicions, even if it was intended as a gesture of kindness. Still, she followed her owner into the living room.

After entering the room and looking around, Ruby spotted a decently-sized bag lying on the table. She looked at her master, who then gestured towards the bag, implying that he wanted Ruby to open it.

She approached it carefully, as though it could explode at any moment. Luckily, it wasn't a bomb, or anything that could threaten her, just…

Clothes. A shirt, a sweater, pair of jeans and a pair of socks, all looking clean and new. They didn't look like Ruby's old clothes, even aside from all the damage. Unlike her black shirt and pants, those articles looked as though they were made with the purpose of actually looking good.

Apparently, her master had bought her a fresh set of clothing. It wasn't that weird in of itself - had he just gave her some new clothing so that she could keep herself warm in the winter, Ruby wouldn't see it as anything to out-of-ordinary. But that was going above simple pragmatism. Arc was deliberately trying to please her by buying her clothes that a human could feasibly wear without getting embarrassed.

"I would have went shopping with you so that you could pick something you'd like." Arc said, sounding almost apologetically. "But you'd need some decent clothes to go with me in the first place, so I just picked whatever seemed to fit your size. I'm not exactly an expert on fashion."

Ruby picked up one of the garments. It was a black shirt with some logo she didn't recognize. Even up close, Ruby couldn't see any signs of damage - it was about as new as they got, clean and pleasant in touch. Judging from how thick the fabric was, it would protect against the cold fairly well too.

It was such a nice gesture... and that was the problem. From what Ruby knew, that was how some humans treated faunus they found attractive. They took these faunus against their will, obviously, but they would also give them some kind of a gift so that they didn't feel too bad. Many slaves would play along, making the best out of a bad situation, and some even purposefully seduced their owners in hopes of being treated more kindly.

Ruby really didn't want to play that game. Better clothes or bedding really weren't worth that price for her – she would gladly go back to sleeping on the basement floor if that meant her owner stayed away from her. But she didn't want to appear ungrateful either, as that was dangerous in its own way.

"It's nice." She said, before realizing how weakly it sounded. "Really nice. Thank you master."

"It's alright. I really should have prepared you something beforehand. I just rarely think ahead like that and I didn't think your clothes would be in that bad of state."

Yet another weird line. It was one thing for him to provide her with new clothing, but why on Remnant would he expect her previous owners to had done the same? She was just a faunus slave, she didn't need to look good. Only to stay warm enough not to get sick.

"Well, I think I'll get going. I don't know when I'll be back exactly, but it's bound to be pretty late."

"Is there... anything else I should do today? Or during the night?" Ruby asked nervously.

"No, I don't think so." Arc replied after a moment. "You can go to sleep now, or do something else if you'd like. I won't be giving you any more orders today."

In response Ruby bowed lowly, turned around and marched towards the stairs.

So, it didn't appear as though her master wanted anything else from her. It was good. Great even. Unlike she might had feared, there was no pain in store for her. She had just finished a day having been fed twice, not getting hit a single time and having worked only ten hours or so. Not much left to be desired, really.

But what if the next day wouldn't end up being quite as nice?

Ruby stopped in her tracks. She turned back around and looked at her master.

"Something's wrong, Ruby?" Again, he used her name. As if he viewed her as a person, and not just another thing he owned. Ruby would far prefer him to be honest with his feelings towards her.

_Don't. You have been dismissed, you are not supposed to bother your master anymore._ Voice of Reason attempted to argue with Ruby. She knew that acting this way was dangerous, but at this moment, she was too annoyed with all of that to care about the consequences. She just wanted to get this charade over with - at least it would spare her all the anxiousness.

_But it will cost you._

"What.. what do you expect from me?" Ruby asked, mostly managing to keep her voice from shaking.

"I'm sorry?" Arc raised his eyebrows, looking genuinely confused.

_Seriously, don't. Apologize and leave while you still can._

"Don't... don't act like that. You don't have to be nice to me and you know it." Ruby said, this time a bit more firmly.

"Ruby, I'm not sure what you are talking about." Against all odds, her owner didn't told her off or slapped her for speaking without permission. He still looked confused, still maintained that benevolent demeanor.

Ruby, however, was angry. Genuinely angry, unlike anything for a long time now. Lying and messing with her was by no means worse than other things Arc probably wanted to put her through, but it was somehow more irritating. Would it hurt him to be honest about his intentions? Did he have to rub salt into the wound by keeping her guessing how and when she would be hurt?

"What do you want from me!?" Ruby was yelling now, uncaring of how utterly improper that kind of behavior was. "Stop screwing around and just tell me! I don't have a choice anyway!"

"It's not..." Arc started, but Ruby was not about to pause. She found herself unable to do the reasonable thing and stop, she was just too fed up with everything. Instead, she just kept going, uncaring for the consequences.

"Just stop! I know you'll hurt me, you'll use me anyway, so what's the point? Just stop pretending you give crap about how I feel!"

"I... I wouldn't..." Ruby's owner seemed lost for words, clearly taken aback by the girl's outburst.

"Like hell you wouldn't! I've seen what your kind can do, you will not fool me like that. I can't stop you anyway, so just stop messing with me!"

The two of them stood in a living room for several moments, staring at each other, in nearly perfect silence. It was only after several seconds that Ruby's anger subsided and was replaced by fear as she realized just how _spectacularly _she had screwed up.

The very next moment, the girl's frail body hit the ground. She pressed her forehead down to the floor and placed her hands so that they partially covered the head. It would provide at least some protection, in case her master decided to discipline her on the spot. She gave him a perfect excuse to do so, first by not following his command, then by speaking without permission and by finally by _yelling _at her superior.

"I, I'm sorry." Ruby managed to stutter. There were probably better things to say, but she just wasn't able to come up with anything else. "I'm really sorry..."

She heard her owner sigh and take a step towards her. Ruby shivered, but didn't move from the spot. Running away was pointless, especially since taking a beating was probably the best outcome for her. There were harsher punishments than that and she would be grateful if it all ended with some kicks and punches. Gods, was she an idiot.

"Ruby... It's not the way you think. I don't want to hurt you."

That took Ruby off guard. Mercy? Just like that? It seemed too good to be true. It could well be just a cruel trick, yet another part of a ruse designed for whatever reason. Ruby remained curled up, shaking like a leaf now, still expecting the pain to come at any moment.

But when the contact finally occurred, it was not in the form of a hit. Instead, Ruby felt a hand gently fall upon her shoulder. It was clearly meant as a calming gesture and indeed, Ruby's dread subsided a little.

Maybe she really was being forgiven. She knew she ought to show some gratitude, kiss her master's hand or at least mutter some words of thanks, but the fear still kept her speechless and motionless.

"I will not hurt you." The human said, once it became clear he was not getting any kind of response. "Certainly not in a way you are afraid of. I will not do anything against your will. I promise."

What? What sense did that make? Since when did her will matter in the slightest? Was that a joke she wasn't getting?

"You don't believe me?"

Well, no. Humans never had a problem hurting her. Some would only do that after she had done something to deserve it, others would do that for trivial reasons of simply for fun. But everyone would if she annoyed them enough. Why would she think that Arc in particular would be any different?

"I suppose you have no reason to trust me." Arc sighed, as if he was reading Ruby's thoughts. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize just how scared of me you were. Even though I really should have. I'm just an idiot."

Had Ruby heard that correctly? Was her master apologizing? Was he apologizing to _her_? And calling _himself _an idiot? That had to be some complex way of messing with her. It had to.

"I should have been more clear about why I bought you. All I really need is for someone to watch over the house while I'm gone. You don't need to bow before me or anything like that. You don't need to be afraid of me. And you don't have to do anything to be treated with a basic dignity."

By now, Ruby had stopped shaking completely. Fear gave way to confusion and disbelief. What on Remnant was he talking about?

"You deserve to be treated like a person. It doesn't have anything to do with me wanting something from you, with being satisfied or dissatisfied with your work. You can ignore everything I say, I still won't hurt you. I guess I'm a poor owner in that regard." Arc might have smiled at that, Ruby wasn't sure. Her eyes were still stuck at the floor as she tried to comprehend what was being said to her.

"I have to get going. Think about what I said, prepare to test my word if you have to. Do whatever will make you less afraid. I don't want you to fear me." The human said while taking his hand off Ruby's shoulder.

Sounds of footsteps implied that the huntsman was walking away from her, but before leaving the room he added:

"You are safe. Please believe that."

And with that, he left. Ruby heard some more sounds, including the shutting of the door, and then the house was embedded by silence.

/-/

It took Ruby an embarrassing amount of time to finally uncurl and stand up. It was as though her body instinctually expected the pain to come and wouldn't accept that there wouldn't be any pain. In all fairness, her mind couldn't fully comprehend it either. Her voice of reason didn't have anything to say, because apparently, common sense was out of the window now.

Ever since Ruby could remember, her life was pretty simple. Her owner told her what to do and if she didn't obey, she would be punished. Some owners were bad and punished her even for minor mistakes. Some were good and would show mercy if she showed enough regret. But this guy just promised not to beat her regardless of what she did or didn't do. It made no sense. Humans didn't work like that.

Could it be just another part of some incredibly complex, sadistic scheme? Probably not. If Jaune really wanted to harm her in the end, then he was putting way too much effort into making her comfortable. It looked as though he really did care about her well-being for some reason.

But according to what she was told, he had tortured his previous servant to death, or at least caused her death in some way. Why would he kill one slave only to treat the next one kindly? He could have been insane, but he didn't really look the part. Ruby had seen some faunus gone insane from being held in cages for too long and they had all been far less coordinated than Jaune appeared to be.

Could he be feeling remorse over the things he once did? Was remorse even a thing for humans? She had no idea. She didn't know what she was supposed to think... but she was pretty sure staying up all night and pondering about such things was not, in fact, a good idea. She was really tired anyway - even though she hadn't done that much work, the constant stress managed to thoroughly exhaust her over the course of the day.

After grabbing the bag in one hand, Ruby went upstairs and towards the room she was assigned to. She found it exactly as she had left it in the morning, that is everything was still essentially untouched except for the quilt that was now lying on the floor. Ruby hadn't been paying it much attention when she got up from bed this morning, for she had been utterly consumed by fear. Fear that, apparently, had been completely misplaced.

The faunus put the quilt back on the bed and then lied down on it. The mattress was still annoyingly soft, but now the sleep wasn't as quick to come as the night before.

'You are safe'. Those words were so simple, but they sounded so unbelievable. How could you be safe, when someone was allowed to beat you or torture you on a whim? How could you be a slave and consider yourself safe?

But... maybe Ruby really was safe. She was a piece of property, yes. But she belonged to somebody who apparently wished her no harm and was strong enough to protect her from anyone who would want to hurt her. And though she couldn't be absolutely certain that Jaune was being honest with her, somehow… she still believed him.

She _wanted _to believe him.

* * *

**Here you go. I would say 'I hope you enjoyed' but with how messed up thing are in this timeline... yeah.**

**The next chapter is already halfway done as I write these words, but I'm not sure if I'll manage to upload next week, especially since I wouldn't want to neglect my other stories. We'll see I suppose.**


	3. Looking Up

Ruby awoke to a ray of light shining down upon her face. She took a look at the clock and saw that it read five to seven. She felt an instinctual urge to jump out of bed immediately, but then she recalled the events of the previous day, upon which she just sighed loudly.

So, if her master was to be believed, he didn't intend to harm her in any way. Which was weird and made no sense whatsoever. If there was no threat of pain looming over her, what reason did she have to obey her master? Why would she even do anything for him?

No, it was stupid of her to think that way. For one, it was not wise to test the limits of her owner's patience like that. Even if he was being completely honest and wasn't going to hurt her himself, he could still sell her off to someone else if she proved herself useless. And what were the chances she would be bought by some other benign human? Not very high, judging from Ruby's experience with that species.

But even if Ruby really wasn't in any danger, be it of violence or abandonment, refusing to work just wouldn't be right. It would make her... ungrateful. It was a weird word, 'ungrateful'. Humans would often use it when they were beating or berating her, and so often that it pretty much lost its meaning to her. But right now, she really would be ungrateful to take advantage of her owner's kindness like that. Ruby didn't want to be that kind of person.

If her owner was really a generous as he appeared to be, refusing to serve him would be out of place. If he was more like other humans, then refusing to serve him would be stupid. Either way, staying respectful and obedient was the best choice for her.

So she stood up, yawned and made her bed, not being in as much of a hurry than last morning. After she was finished, she took to changing her clothing. It felt nice to get out of her old rugs and into clean clothes, though just like with the shower, it brought her some discomfort. She felt as if she were doing something wrong, like the new clothes were obviously too good for someone like her and there was no way she was allowed to wear them. She ignored that feeling, reminding herself that she _was_ allowed to wear them and they were not deemed too good for her by the person who owned them, or who owned her for that matter.

The faunus exited the room and made her way towards Jaune's room in order to see whether or not he was home.

Upon entering, Ruby got her answer. Her master was lying on the large bed, this time not in his pajamas, but in regular pants and with bare chest, save for a bandage that was now covering a part of it. He must had gotten injured during his hunt – it clearly wasn't his first wound, as evidenced by the amount of scars on his chest. Just a part of huntsman's life, she supposed. While Cardin didn't have quite as many of those, it simply meant that Jaune was either weaker than her former owner or was prone to picking tougher fights.

For a moment, Ruby was concerned about her master's condition – as weird as it sounded – but there was seemingly no danger to his health. There was no bleeding by now, the breath was even and it looked like the bandage had been applied perfectly well. Besides, if Jaune was seriously hurt, he wouldn't be sleeping in his bed like that. Rather he would have gone to one of those 'hospital' places for humans who got really sick or hurt.

After looking around some more, Ruby spotted an alarm clock lying on top of a shelf. It was set on eight o'clock, implying that was when Jaune intended to get up. Ruby backed out of the room, careful not to wake him earlier by making too much noise and made her way downstairs.

Now, she had been given no instructions to do anything that morning. She could simply wait until she was ordered to do anything, but she figured she could show some good will and prepare a breakfast in advance. Even if that wasn't what her master wanted, the effort she would show would probably be enough to spare her any serious...

Ruby mentally smacked herself. There would be no punishment, serious or otherwise. But even though she truly believed that, it was hard for her not to constantly think about everything in terms of potential repercussions. She had to get used to that new system somehow and doing something out of her own accord would be a good first step.

She didn't exactly have many ingredients to work with, but that wasn't much of a problem. Ruby wasn't the best cook in Remnant, but she was no stranger to working with limited resources and she could prepare a decent meal even with what little there was in the kitchen, such as several eggs in the fridge. Ruby didn't want to make scrambled eggs again, not wanting to be too repetitive, so instead she decided to make some sandwiches with egg sauce.

The procedure for that was fairly simple. It took her less than fifteen minutes to prepare the whole thing and it came out looking pretty tasty. Well, pretty much everything seemed tasty to her – the point was, that meal would probably be good enough for her owner either.

Now all she had to do was wait. She didn't want to start eating without Jaune – she would probably not get punished for it, but it would be just rude. If a human thought she deserved to eat with them, then she would not spit in a face of that sentiment.

Soon enough, Jaune came downstairs. He seemed somewhat sleepy, though he still conscious and aware of his surroundings. Upon seeing Ruby he froze in place and looked at the girl with concern.

"Oh, hi Ruby. Are you alright?" He asked awkwardly.

"Well yes." Ruby replied with equal awkwardness. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well you didn't seem alright last evening." Jaune said, pointing out the obvious. "You were really scared. And angry. Which was kind of my fault."

His fault? Well, maybe in a way. Things would had gone smoother had Jaune explained his intentions immediately, but that didn't really give Ruby an excuse to assume the worst and them throw a tantrum because of her suspicions.

"No really, It's alright. I'm..." Ruby's voice wavered. Trying to convince her owner that she was alright was bizarre on more than one level. A slave wasn't supposed to reject pity and a master shouldn't be concerned about how his property was feeling in the first place. The whole situation felt like it was reverse day or something like that.

But that's how it was. Jaune was genuinely worried about her, even though she had been so insolent and downright disobedient towards him. Seeing that concern made her feel safer, but it also caused her to feel... guilty. And not in a sense that she was expecting a deserved punishment – quite the opposite, in fact. It was the fact that the punishment wouldn't come, even though it was sort of deserved, that made her feel uncomfortable.

It was an awful feeling. One that Ruby immediately felt the need to get rid of.

She took a step back. She then dropped down to her knees, slowly and formally this time, and lowered her face towards the floor until her forehead was nearly pressing the tiles once more. She had to apologize like that many times, but for once, it would be genuine.

"Ruby, you don't..." Jaune began, but Ruby wouldn't let him finish. She knew that Jaune probably wouldn't appreciate this kind of behavior, but she had to ease her conscience somehow and she didn't know any other way to apologize.

"I'm sorry." She said calmly, as to convey that it wasn't just fear speaking through her. "You were good to me and I failed to appreciate it. I had no right to get angry and I don't deserve your kindness. I'm just a stupid, ungrateful..."

"Don't." For once, Jaune's voice was firm, enough to make Ruby pause immediately. "If you want to thank me, fine. But I'm not going to listen to you degrading yourself like that."

Normally, Ruby would have found herself surprised that her master did _not _want her to degrade herself, but with Jaune, it was no real surprise.

"Look, I get that it's normal for you." Her owner continued, his voice softer now. "You have been trained to act like that after all. I can't blame you for not being able to lift yourself up just like that, but just try to lighten up a little, alright?"

Lighten up? Such a bizarre request. Ruby wasn't sure how she was supposed to 'lighten up' – whether he wanted to hurt her or not, Jaune was still her master. Not showing him the proper respect would just feel weird and out of place.

But maybe that was exactly how she should approach the matter. After all, obedience was generally more important than respect. If her owner told her not to kneel before him, it didn't matter whether _she _thought it proper or not, she was just supposed to obey. And if he was having some silly ideas about treating her with dignity, she would humor him.

Yes, that seemed like a good way to think about all this. It wasn't contradictory, it didn't go against any of the basic rules she'd been taught and it wouldn't make her do anything dangerous. She would simply show less servility than usually – not because of any notion of dignity, but because she wanted to comply with her orders.

Ruby rose back to her feet and smoothed out her clothes, since they were actually worth something now. Jaune smiled and patted her on the shoulder.

"Better. Now, did you make something for breakfast?' Jaune asked, only to add hastily: "It's alright if you didn't or if you don't want to. I'm not forcing you into anything."

"I made some sandwiches a moment ago." Ruby replied, pointing towards the kitchen table.

"That's great. We can eat together again... or not. Depends on what will make you comfortable."

_He thinks I'm still terrified of him... _Ruby thought. She could once again notice the irony of the situation, as she would normally want to convince humans that she was scared of them, for fear of what they would do if they thought otherwise.

And granted, she was still somewhat afraid. She was reasonably sure that there was no imminent danger, but her instincts told her to always be on her guard. That wouldn't change anytime soon, not after all the conditioning she had been put through. She would simply have to use that fear as a drive to do the most reasonable thing, which in this case was to appear at ease – looking terrified would bring discomfort to her master, which in turn could cause him to go a bit harsher on his slave, if only unconsciously.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Ruby said, if not very convincingly. "Just let me set up the plates."

Whether he was convinced or not, Jaune nodded at took a step back, presumably to give Ruby more space. The faunus approached the cupboard, pulled out two large plates and placed them on the table. She then placed three sandwiches on each platter, as weird as that felt, and gestured for her master to sit down at the table. He obliged, taking one of the adjacent chairs while Ruby sat on the other one. They both took to their food almost immediately, though Ruby made sure not to start before her owner, to show good manners if nothing else.

From then on, they ate in silence. Ruby still felt somewhat uncomfortable like that, instinctually thinking of Jaune as a threat. She kept her eyes on the young man, constantly watching out for any signs of aggression from him. She spotted none, but she did notice that the wound and the bandage hindered his movements a bit.

"You got hurt last night?" Ruby asked. She immediately felt embarrassed at a redundant question and ashamed of speaking without having been spoken to, but her owner didn't seem to mind either of these things.

"Yeah, one of the Grimm got lucky." He replied dismissively. "Nothing crippling or dangerous. I can still function normally."

"You still want to go to work with this?" Ruby asked.

"Yes. It's not that much of a problem, really."

So, Jaune intended to work even though he wasn't in his best shape. It was weird for a human – they had a tendency to take to silliest of excuses to avoid what little work they had to do, including simply 'not feeling well'. And yet Ruby was somehow expected to perform hard labor a night after receiving a painful lashing. How did that make sense?

Still, Jaune didn't look very well. He had a very good excuse to avoid work that particular day, but he wasn't going to help it. Ruby wasn't as arrogant as to try and lecture him about that, but maybe...

_I know what you want to do and it's stupid. _The Voice of Reason said. _But it's not very dangerous, so go ahead I suppose._

"Do you... need any help?"

"Excuse me?"Jaune raised his eyebrows.

"I just thought that maybe I could help you with your work, since you're hurt." Ruby started to explain herself hastily. "That's probably a stupid thought and I'm sorry, I just..."

"Actually, I think I could use some help." Jaune said. "You could come with me to the gym, help with setting up the equipment and such."

"Of course." Ruby replied automatically.

"I'm only asking you because you made an offer." Jaune said. "If you don't feel up to it, you might as well stay here. I can probably manage all the stuff on my own."

Ruby thought for a second. She didn't exactly welcome any more work, nor was she looking forwards to going out and interacting with other humans, most of whom probably hated her simply for being a faunus. But she had decided that she wanted to make herself useful, and that was a good opportunity to do so.

"I will come. That's not a big problem for me either."

"Thanks. I appreciate it." Jaune smiled and, since his plate was mostly empty anyways, got up from his seat.

Ruby also got up and reached for Jaune's plate, intending to carry it to the sink. He, however, picked it up himself.

It was a rather clear message for her. _You don't have to do everything here._

While it was certainly a well-intentioned gesture, Ruby found it somewhat annoying. She wanted to make herself useful and her master wasn't making that any easier right now. Did he really think that she was just looking for ways to avoid work?

Well of course he did. Ruby hadn't been a particularly good slave so far. She had already shown herself insolent and disobedient, so it made sense for her to be lazy as well. Choosing to assist Jaune in the gym had definitely been the right choice after al - maybe it would help fix his perception of Ruby a little.

After Jaune and Ruby washed their respective plates – a rather inefficient way of doing the dishes – they went to the corridor in order to get dressed. Or rather Jaune put on a jacket and his shoes – Ruby felt quite comfortable going out in her current clothing. It was pretty warm due to being-well made and not having any holes, and besides, it wasn't very cold outside anyways.

Ruby waited for Jaune to get ready out of politeness, after which she walked over towards the door and began unlocking all its chains and locks. Before she actually opened it, however, she heard her owner's voice coming from behind her.

"Um, Ruby, do you really intend to go outside like this?"

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, turning to face Jaune.

In response, the blonde man pointed his finger downwards at Ruby's feet, which were now clad by her new socks. Immediately, Ruby felt embarrassed for not noticing the obvious problem.

"Oh, right." She took of her socks and put them on a nearby wardrobe. "They'd just get dirty or even destroyed. Now I'm ready."

"That's not what I meant..." Jaune sighed, causing Ruby to look at him in confusion. "Aren't you worried that you will step on something sharp and hurt your foot?"

"I'll be careful." Ruby shrugged. "Even if I do cut myself, I won't dirty anything with blood, other than the sidewalk I guess."

Jaune stared at her for a moment open-eyed, as though she had just said something horrifying. After a while he sighed, reached into one of the commode's shelves and pulled out a pair of black sneakers.

"Here, I have a pair for you." He informed his slave. "Put them on and we'll meet each other at the car. Also, take the spare key from the hook and close the door behind you."

With these words, Jaune opened the door and exited the house, leaving Ruby alone and confused once more.

So, shoes now? Each time Ruby assumed she had seen the end of Jaune's weirdness, he proved her sorely incorrect. Clean clothes were one thing, but for the faunus like her to wear actual shoes felt just... weird. Maybe not wrong in the same way chatting with her owner was, but still weird, like trying to make dog to wear a hat.

Once again, Ruby had to remind herself not to question what she was told. It didn't matter what she was used to or what some other humans told her. Her master ordered her to put on the shoes he gave her. She was not supposed to disobey orders.

So instead of sitting there and pondering about what was and what wasn't proper, Ruby put her feet back in the socks and then in the shoes she was given. It felt rather uncomfortable, having something press at your foot from all sides, but discomfort was no excuse for disobeying a command.

A bigger problem was how to tie those shoes. Ruby was pretty sure there was some specific technique involved, but she didn't know what that technique was – she never had to tie her shoes due to never having worn any. In the end, she decided to just tangle the shoelaces until she was fairly sure that the shoes wouldn't fall off.

Feeling sort of stupid, but otherwise ready to go, Ruby exited through the door. The day was quite pretty – newly risen sun poured golden light upon the street, the few clouds in the sky not being enough to cover it. It was somewhat cool outside, but just as Ruby suspected, the clothes she wore protected her against cold fairly well.

With the key given to her, Ruby closed the door behind her. She then marched onto the terrace, quickly spotting a small car standing near the road.A moment later, Jaune walked up to it, entered it and took his place on the driver's seat. Ruby walked towards the car as well, sighing at the thought of the ride that awaited her. Unlike Cardin's vehicle, this one wasn't a truck, so she would have to squeeze in tightly if she wanted to fit into the...

For once, Ruby thought ahead. She then walked towards the car's side door and, reluctantly, used it to step inside. She then situated herself on the seat and looked towards Jaune to see if he wanted her to stay or if she was supposed to enter the trunk after all.

Just as she expected, Jaune simply smiled towards her before turning the keys and igniting the engine. After making sure that there were no other vehicles on the road, he drove out from the driveway and onto the street.

The ride, while far more pleasant than the kind Ruby was used to – that seat was incredibly comfortable – was also very quiet and somewhat awkward. Normally, she would be perfectly fine with that, as talking to humans often ended with her saying something stupid and getting punished. But since talking to that particular human was seemingly safe, not saying anything for long minutes like that felt somewhat weird.

Still, Ruby made no attempt to strike a conversation with her owner. 'Don't speak unless spoken to' rule was so engrained in her by now that breaking it, even when she knew that there would be no consequences, just wasn't something she would do without a good reason.

"We are almost there." Jaune said after about half an hour of awkward silence. "The gym is just around the corner. Um, I don't want to ask a stupid question, but you know how a gym looks like?"

"Sort of." Ruby replied. She had never been in a gym personally, but she knew that it was a place where humans went to get tired and make their muscles grow and she had seen some training devices in her owners' homes. "Do I have to know anything specific?"

"Not really. I just want you to move some stuff around and maybe clean the changing rooms. I do hire people to clean up the building once a week, but I mostly train teenagers and they can make a real mess in a short time."

So, for whatever reason, Jaune's gym was mostly attended by teenagers. It wasn't too surprising, since many humans in their teen years were obsessed with being strong and 'fit'. It always seemed somewhat silly and quite annoying to her – if her owners wanted to weigh less, Ruby would gladly take some of their food and grow some fat in their place.

What was somewhat surprising, however, was that her master felt a need to 'hire' people to keep his place tidy. Most work of this type was done by slaves these days, as they were cheaper in the long run and easier to motivate, and it wasn't like Jaune had a problem with owning a slave. If he was willing to buy Ruby and expend additional lien to provide her with clothing only so that she would look after his house, why not buy some faunus to help him with more serious stuff such as maintaining his business?

_Don't think too much about it. _Ruby's voice of reason said, giving her a familiar piece of advice. _Leave human matters to humans and focus on your tasks._

"Right." Ruby replied, both to Jaune's statement and the Voice's advice. "I promise to do my best."

Jaune opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something in response, but ultimately didn't get to utter a single word. He had to focus on the road before him, as he drove through an open gate and onto the small parking lot next to a large, single-story building. There were no other cars parked around there, indicating that there was still a lot of time before the gym would be opened.

After Jaune parked his car, Ruby unlocked her seatbelt and exited through the door. She wasn't sure where she would find the entrance to the building, so she waited for his master to leave the vehicle as well and followed him when he started walking towards the gym.

Soon enough, they reached the entrance door. Similarly to the one in Jaune's house, it was large, sturdy and devoid of any weak points. Really, the only thing differentiating the two was a metal tablet attached with the words 'Arc Gym' engraved onto it.

"I tried really hard to come up with a better name." Jaune said when he noticed Ruby staring at the writing. "In the end, I decided there was no reason not to use my family name to promote a business."

"It's not a bad name, really..." Ruby said, before her eyes trailed off towards the wall fragment above the door. Or rather towards the shield that hung there.

A heater shield, if Ruby recalled the name correctly. White with a golden trim, adorned with a symbol that resembled a crescent moon and without any visible signs of damage, it was beautiful in a way that even the simple faunus like Ruby could appreciate.

"A family heirloom." Jaune commented. "My great-grandfather decided that it would go well with the sword. It did save my life once or twice, so I suppose he was right."

"Why is it here? You're not using it anymore?" Ruby asked, curiosity overwhelming her learned timidity.

"No, I don't. It's too distinctive, better suited for an advert than a weapon for me to wield." Jaune replied. A slight grimace entered his face, but the immediately shook it off. He then pulled out a key and used it to open the sturdy door. "Come, we shouldn't stand here like that."

With that, Jaune entered the building. As always, Ruby obliged, following her owner into the interior. She felt an impulse to lock the door behind her, but she figured that if the people were to start coming soon, leaving it open would probably be for the best.

The inside of a gym consisted of a single, spacious room with some training racks on the sides and training mats sprawled across the floor. The entire thing was well-lit, ordered and, for all Ruby knew, ready for usage.

"There is other equipment I have to set up." Jaune said, debunking Ruby's assumption. "It's all kind of heavy, so I'll handle it myself. You better go to the changing rooms and pick up any litter my precious students left there."

Ruby nodded her head, ignoring the instinct that told her to bow. She was just about to run off and search for the changing rooms, but then she recalled the very reason she was helping out in the first place. Her eyes trailed towards Jaune's bandage.

"Don't worry." Her owner was quick to reassure her. "I won't strain myself or anything. It will just take me a while longer than normally."

Reluctantly, Ruby nodded once more and walked away. It really was weird hat she was concerned for her owner's health like that, but then again, if she had been hurt Jaune would probably be concerned just as much. She had no doubt about that for some strange, perhaps illogical reason. He just seemed like he would.

The building wasn't particularly big, so finding the changing rooms only took Ruby a minute or two. Just as Jaune said, they were dirty and littered with rubbish of all kind – from empty paper bags to bullet shells. Without much thinking, Ruby started to pick up all the trash from the floor and put it into a nearby garbage bin.

The work wasn't particularly strenuous or complicated, though it still took Ruby several minutes to gather all the scattered rubbish and dispose of it. The changing rooms still weren't exactly clean, as the floor was stained in multiple places and there was dust everywhere, but Ruby would need some actual cleaning supplies to correct that, not to mention a little more time. As it stood, however, she felt pretty satisfied with her work.

Upon returning to the main hall, Ruby saw that Jaune hadn't been wasting time either. The training racks were all set up, arranged neatly around the room. There were also some sandbags in the corner, weighs placed on a metal shelf… the gym seemed ready to be used.

Upon placing down one last weigh in its rightful place, Jaune approached Ruby. "Here you are. There is something else I could use your help with."

Ruby nodded. She felt no need to ask what the task was before agreeing to perform it – it wasn't like she would refuse anyway.

She followed her owner as he headed for the far corner of the room. There in shadow stood several objects Ruby failed to recognize – a bunch of large wooden circles with circles of different colors painted and several numbers written on each of them.

"These are for shooting practice." Jaune explained. "We have to arrange them in a row, against one of the walls."

"I understand." Ruby replied, only to instantly realize that she did not, in fact, understand what had just been said. "Wait, shooting? Is that what people do at a gym like that?"

"Yeah, I don't think I explained that correctly." Jaune scratched the top of his head. "I call this place a gym for lack of a better word, but it's really more than that. It's more like a… extracurricular activity for prospective huntsmen initiates."

Ruby blinked. That was a lot of words she didn't know the meaning of.

"Basically, I offer some extra-training for kids who want to become huntsmen one day." Jaune clarified. "Most of them study in combat schools already, but I provide them with some extra insight on their skills and a chance to train under somebody's eye."

"I think I understand." Ruby said, though without much certainty. She knew that humans had to train a lot to become huntsmen, though she always assumed they were doing that by slaughtering the Grimm with their bare hands and stuff like that. That was how Cardin described his training, though to be fair, he was probably not the most honest or humble of people.

"Well, you will see how that works soon enough." Jaune patted Ruby on the back with a smile on his face. That smile, however, turned into a frown a moment later. "That is, if you want to stay and watch. Do you? I forgot to ask you about that?"

"Will you need me for anything?" Ruby asked the crucial question.

"Not really, but I could use somebody to pass the water and stuff." Jaune replied. "The thing is, there is going to be well over a dozen students here at all times. A few of them are not particularly nice people and many of them do not like the faunus very much."

Ruby felt a tinge of fear upon hearing these words. In a way, she had forgotten that there would be other people in that place and that, while they had no right to damage her, they could still bully her or even cause her some very real pain. She had always hated the times when she was forced to serve guests instead of only her owners, as those often took a real enjoyment out of tormenting her. And these would be young, strong people who could no doubt pack quite a punch.

"Will you… let them hit me and stuff?" Ruby asked nervously.

"No!" Jaune quickly replied, clearly shocked by the question. "No, if anyone tries so much as touch you, they will be getting a kick out of the door. It's just that I can't really stop my students from insulting or mocking you and I know a few that would do that."

Ruby relaxed. If it was only about some verbal 'abuse', then there was no real problem. Insults were not nice to hear, but they didn't hurt in a way even a light slap did. There was probably a saying about that, but Ruby couldn't remember it – at any rate, she could deal with some humans not being very nice to her.

"It's no problem." She replied honestly. "I'll gladly help."

"Thank you. Now let's deal with those things before the students arrive."

It took Jaune and Ruby several minutes to properly set up all the 'shields', but once they took care of that, there was nothing more left to do. For the next ten minutes or so they sat idly – or in Ruby's case stood, since sitting down in the presence of her master was one of these things which still felt very wrong – until the students started to enter the gym.

All of them looked and behaved pretty much exactly as Ruby expected them to. Young men and women in equal numbers, all physically fit and generally not bad-looking. They carried themselves with confidence, even arrogance, though they showed Jaune a level of respect. They naturally didn't show any respect towards Ruby – most of them gave her a disgusted glare upon entrance – but after being told that she was there to assist their teacher they left her alone, mostly ignoring her as they passed into the locker rooms or began stretching their muscles before the training proper.

What really brought Ruby's attention were their weapons. Most of them fell into one of few categories – either a sword, a gun or a combination of the two – but there were some differences, both subtle and obvious. Some swords were short and had straight, even blades, others were really big and had rows running down their blades, others were not actually sharp except for their tips and then there were these strange curved ones… Ruby wished she knew enough words to properly describe them. And it wasn't like guns were identical either, with the pipes having different lengths and thickness and there were those with fancy decorations on their handles…

Overall, Ruby counted nineteen people and twenty-seven weapons, some students having brought more than one. Once the designated hour came, they all assembled and began their training.

It was a weird mixture of physical exercise – the stuff Ruby thought humans normally did at a gym – and various activities designed to teach and hone fighting skills. The teenagers got to use their weapons in a multitude of ways, from simple target practice to one-on-one spars. Each and every single one of them appeared to be extremely skilled, making even the relatively unimpressive weapons look like deadly tools that they really were.

So that was how wannabe huntsmen trained. Ruby heard all about huntsmen, even before getting bought by Cardin. She knew that they were deadly warriors capable of slaying monstrous beasts with ease, but she never quite realized what that meant. She always sort of assumed that they were just wrestling the Grimm to death with their superhuman strength or shot exploding bullets from their giant guns – something simple and brutish like that.

But those people weren't just strong. They were also fast, skilled and ruthless during combat, even spars such as these. A few students went beyond even that level, aiding themselves with strange and spectacular abilities – semblances, if Ruby recalled correctly. Hearing about the feats people like that were capable of and seeing how they fought were two different things and Ruby found herself interested, even captivated by watching this training.

She pondered how strong actual huntsmen must have been, if these kids had not even started their official training. She didn't get to see Jaune anything spectacular – he spent most of the training watching over his students and giving tips. Occasionally, after a spar gone particularly brutal, he would approach one of the students and place hands on their bruises or cuts, making them disappear. Ruby assumed it was yet another semblance, though it was possible that healing was something all real huntsmen could do. If so, then they were even more absurdly powerful than Ruby originally assumed. It almost made her feel proud to serve one, although it was hard to feel really proud at having been bought by a particular person.

And it wasn't like Ruby herself was doing anything special. Throughout the entire training she only moved from her chosen place whenever she had to pass something or pick something up from the ground. Easy work, nearly impossible to mess up or get tired from.

As for the students whom Jaune warned her about, they weren't all that bad. Most of them were completely indifferent to the wolf faunus running around, showing her no more concern that they would have to some new device or a piece of furniture. There were those who appeared somewhat bothered by Ruby's presence, but they were clearly too busy with the exercise to interact with her in any meaningful way. The worst Ruby suffered from them was having an insult or two thrown at her and getting spat upon once – the latter sort of bothered her, since she wanted to keep her new clothes as clean as possible, but at no point had she felt really threatened.

And that was essentially how the whole thing looked like. After the first group of people finished their training, another assembled in their place. And then another one, and one last one after that. The grand total was four groups, each taking up less than two hours of their time.

After the last person left, Jaune sat on one of the chests and sighed loudly. Either he was simply tired, which would be perfectly understandable in his current state, or frustrated with the events of the day. Ruby approached him carefully, fearing – rationally or not – that she was partially responsible for the latter.

"So, are we done here?" The girl asked. Asking if there was any work to be done was considered a good enough reason for a slave to speak.

"Yes, yes we are." Jaune replied, smiling weakly. "Thank you for helping me with all that. And for putting up with my dear students."

Ruby simply shrugged in response. She didn't see what the big deal was. She had just spent several hours doing really light work after getting a good meal. It had been, by all means, an excellent day. The insults did nothing to spoil that either – they really made no difference in the greater scheme of things. If Jaune were to spit her in the face after every conversation, he would still be the best owner she ever had. It wouldn't be _nice_, but it wouldn't really impact Ruby the same way pain or hunger did.

Why was Jaune even concerned about stuff like that? He didn't feel a need to be rude to his slave, which was all good for him, but why would he care whether or not other humans followed suit?

Instead of providing an answer for any of these unspoken questions, Jaune stood up from the chest. "Anyways, we can go home now. I won't tell you to prepare a dinner tonight, especially since there is not much to make it from, but how about we go out on the town and get ourselves something?"

"Something to eat?" Ruby was uncertain of the meaning behind these words. She couldn't bring herself to be really surprised anymore, having already gotten used to Jaune's weirdness, but the offer still caught her off-guard. "You and me? Like..."

"Don't worry, it's not an invitation to a date." Jaune chuckled quietly. "I just figured we're both hungry and neither of us wants to cook anything."

In all honesty, Ruby wasn't all that hungry and didn't mind cooking at all... but the prospect of eating something which hadn't been made by her and wasn't a bowl of tasteless gruel did seem somewhat interesting.

"So we go to the restaurant or what?" Ruby asked. "Because I don't think anyone would let me into one."

"Yeah, a fair point." Jaune said, frowning. "But I suppose we can go grab something in a fast-food. I feel fairly confident in my figure and you would probably be better off gaining some weigh. No offence or anything."

"None taken." Ruby replied, remembering how humans usually responded to such comments. "So, are going now."

"Sure." Jaune marched towards the exit. "That got me thinking, have you ever drunk hot chocolate?"

The wolf faunus, of course, shook her head.

"Then I'm going to show you what you've missed. Let's go." With these words and a smile on his face, the huntsman disappeared behind the door. The young girl followed behind him, out of the empty building and onto the street outside.

_I have no idea what is going on anymore. _The Voice of Reason said inside Ruby's head. _But at this point, I don't even care. We deserve some fun after all._

/-/

Another night had fallen, cracked moon having replaced the sun in the sky. Ruby could see it from her window, lighting up Vale with its silvery glow. At the moment, the wolf faunus was sitting in her room – it sounded weird even in her thoughts – after Jaune took her out for a meal, brought her back home and allowed her to shower again. She had a very nice evening behind her, not that the day before was particularly tough either. Heck, it had been one of the most pleasant days of her life. Without a threat of pain looming over her, working felt far less strenous than usually, almost rewarding. Especially since her reward was some really tasty food and drink.

Overall, she felt pretty good.

It was kind of weird. At any given point of her life thus far there was something bothering her. She had always been hungry, cold, scared or several of the above. She had learned to tune out the minor inconveniences long ago, so there were moments when she felt _sort of _good, but there was always something nagging at her ever so slightly.

Not now. Her stomach was full, the room she was in was warm and cozy, the bed was soft and she was actually clean – something that still felt somewhat weird, though not in a bad way. And, as blasphemous as it sounded, she didn't really fear her owner after being treated so beningly for the past two days. To the contrary, Ruby felt safer than she had for a long, long time. If she still suffered from some inconvenience, then she completely failed to notice it.

Was that how humans felt all the time? Well, no, obviously not. Even when there really was nothing bad happening to them, they kept complaining about something or other. Maybe there was something about them that made them unable to be happy, or maybe they liked whining because they were all just mean for the sake of it.

Well, clearly not _all _of them. Jaune had, once again, proven himself to be good master. He hadn't raised his hand against her even once, expended a lot of effort to keep her in that worriless state and he had never even said anything that could be really considered an insult.

And Ruby still didn't know why he behaved this way. Or how did that compute with him having tormented his slave to death at one point.

Jaune... was confusing. He acted in a very un-human manner, at least towards her. He apparently believed that he _had_ to treat her benignly, which was made even more confusing by the fact that he had _killed _one faunus before. How did that make any sense? Had Jaune changed since then, or was there something else going on?

In the end, it didn't really matter. The past didn't matter. Only the present had any sort of meaning to her. And with a layer of roof over her head, a warm room, comfortable bed, nice food, this strange feeling of safety and an owner who actually cared about her?

Things were finally looking up.

* * *

**Here you go. That chapter took much longer to write than it had to, but I hope it came out alright in the end.**

**Now, some of you might think that things are going too smoothly for Ruby at the moment, with how she feels mostly safe and content. They are not. They are going anything but smoothly. In case I haven't shown that properly, Ruby has a bunch of psychological issues, most of which she doesn't even recognize as such. **

**I probably shouldn't be writing about it, since the artist is generally not supposed to explain their work, but I really don't want anyone to think that I'm trying to portray slavery as nice or saying that slaves should be happy as long as they don't get treated too badly. Like I said at the beginning, this story is told from a single, subjective perspective. The way protagonist perceives the events has little to do with my own views on the topics presented.**


	4. Peak of Weirdness

Sun was high on the firmament, or at least a high as it could be now that autumn had fully began. The few trees that grew near the road have started to shed their leaves, some of which were circling in the wind right now only to gently fall either on the grass or the concrete plates moments later.

Ruby had almost forgotten how pretty it could be outside the closed walls. She very rarely had a chance to go outdoors, not that she ever felt a strong need to do so. For most of her life she had been constantly worried whether she would get fed or get beaten within the next few hours and roaming outside without a clear reason, even when the weather was nice, just wasn't on her mind most of the time.

Now, however, she had a reason. Namely to visit the grocery store and buy some food, as the supplies in the house had been running low as of recently. The task made Ruby sort of nervous, but she would still manage – after all, she had done that twice already.

It had been a little over two weeks since Ruby was bought by Jaune Arc. She had to admit, she liked the way thing had been going thus far. Jaune had shown himself caring every step of the way. He fed her regularly, allowed her to use the shower freely and kept his promise not to harm her to the letter. Well, there was that time a few days back when he had a doctor stick a needle in her, to make her magically immune to a disease by injecting the disease without making her sick. Honestly, Ruby thought it was all bollocks, but she got a lollipop afterwards, so it was all worth it.

Eventually, Ruby reached the grocery store. It was small and rather unimpressive, but seemed just as well-stocked as always, with baskets full of vegetables and bakings. The shopkeeper was there too – a tall, mostly bald man in a staff uniform. Upon seeing Ruby, he turned towards her and crossed his arms expectantly. It was as though he didn't wish to waste his breath talking to a faunus like her.

Ruby didn't really blame him. He was better than most humans in that regard – better than the kids in the gym and certainly better than all of Ruby's owners prior to Jaune.

The wolf faunus placed a sheet of paper along with the fifty-lien bill on the counter. "These are the things I was sent for. I'm not sure how much it will cost, but I think I have enough."

The shopkeeper didn't waste any time, immediately grabbing the sheet, pressing some buttons on the cash register and then grabbing the requested supplies of their shelves. The speed in which he did that was quite impressive – Ruby had seen slaves work faster, except not really. When you threatened somebody with a beating, they tended to move their hands faster, but didn't do their work all that more efficiently.

Then again, most slaves probably wouldn't do any work at all if not for the threat of pain. Was Ruby unique in that regard, or was Jaune unique for being able to manage a slave without resorting to violence?

Ruby was snapped out of her musings when the shopkeeper placed the ordered food on the counter, alongside the money making up the change and the receipt. The faunus nodded in thanks, after which she packed all the produce into the bag. Grabbing the filled bag into one hand and putting the money onto the other, she exited the shop.

Shopping for supplies was, alongside helping out in a gym, one of the tasks Ruby wasn't used to. None of her previous owners trusted her with buying things for fear she would steal some of the money given to her, unintentionally lose something or even seize the chance to run away. Being shown even that small measure of trust was a new thing for her and she took some strange pride from living up to that trust, even though she had little reason not to. Stealing money would be pointless, losing it would be dumb and running away would be both pointless and dumb. She already had all the things she really needed and didn't feel a need to sabotage that.

Just to be on the safe side, Ruby compared the amount of money in her palm with the receipt she was given. She somewhat struggled with this sort of calculations especially now that she couldn't use fingers to help her count, but everything seemed to more or less check out. Satisfied, she hid the lien in the pocket and made her way back home.

Once again, she marched through the relatively calm streets under the bright sunlight. The few humans who roamed the streets at that hour didn't pay the slightest attention to her. The only exception was a beggar in the side street, who proceeded to pick himself up upon hearing someone pass by, but ended up merely spitting at the ground when he saw who exactly was passing and that he probably wouldn't get anything from them.

Normally, some of these humans might have bullied her in some way. Someone could decide to call the police, thinking her a runaway that needs to be captured and punished. But people in this neighborhood mostly knew each other and could recognize the wolf faunus as Jaune's property. Property that he wouldn't want anyone to damage for no reason. Few humans would blink an eye if something bad happened to Ruby, but they wouldn't try to attack her for the same reason they wouldn't try to throw stones at the windows in Jaune's house. Belonging to a huntsman that actually cared about your well-being had its major benefits.

After a while, Ruby arrived at the small house that currently made for her home. An actual home, not just a place when she was required to stay. Even though she had enjoyed roaming outside and she didn't fear the humans all that much, Ruby still felt somewhat relieved at being back. There was a sense of safety there, something she still found weird, and yet thoroughly enjoyed at the same time.

Pulling out a key from her pocket, Ruby opened the door. She heard TV noises coming from the living room, which meant that Jaune must have been already home. Which made sense, since he had much less work on Fridays, though it was a little weird for him not to lock the door using all the chains. Eh, whatever.

The first thing she did, aside from placing the bag down on the floor, was to take off her shoes and socks. She would wear shoes to protect her feet against damage and socks to protect her feet from getting scratched in those shoes, but in the sterile and warm environment of the household she preferred to go around barefoot. Maybe it was because she got used to it during her years as a slave or maybe it was just natural for the faunus – either way, unless it was really cold, socks were an unnecessary bother for her.

"I'm back!" Ruby said loudly, walking into the living room. "I have everything you asked for, so I can cook something up right..."

Ruby paused, stopping dead in her tracks. Upon entering the room she saw that the person inside was not, in fact, Jaune Arc.

On the couch sat a girl in a bizarre, black and white outfit that made her look sort of like a penguin. She had long, black hair and golden eyes that were now looking at the wolf faunus with surprise. What really caught Ruby's attention, however, was a set of catlike ears sticking out from the girl's hair, identifying her as a faunus. Actually, what _really _caught Ruby's attention was a gun lying on the stool, just within the strange girl's reach.

Ruby was quickly overwhelmed by fear. Her immediate instinct was to fall on the floor and beg for forgiveness, but she realized that such a tactic would not work in that specific situation. So, instead of following her learned reflex, Ruby followed one far simpler, natural instinct.

"Aaaaaa!" Ruby screamed on the very top of her lungs. The cat faunus reacted by quickly standing up and grabbing the weapon from the stool.

"Be quiet!" She growled before Ruby had a chance to draw another breath.

_Do what she says! _The Voice of Reason ordered. _Basic slave training – do as you are told and you'll be fine._

_It's different. _Ruby mentally pointed out. _She's not a human, the training doesn't really apply here._

_But she can hurt you just like human, so it's all the same, isn't it?_ The Voice replied, making a very good point.

Ruby resisted the urge to scream again, trusting her voice of reason to guide her. She instead took a deep breath and then nodded slowly.

"Good." The cat faunus lowered her weapon. "I would really hate it if you alarmed the whole neighborhood that something's up."

So, that girl was an intruder. Some sort of robber or maybe a serial murderer. She obviously had to be a criminal, if only by the virtue of being a faunus with a weapon and without a master to keep watch over her.

"Please don't kill me..." Ruby said, as quietly as she could manage. "I just clean here. And cook here. And throw out garbage and buy groceries and..."

"Alright, I get that. I'm not going to kill you." The intruder said, prompting Ruby to sigh with relief. "Tell me, that is the place Jaune Arc lives in? He hasn't moved out recently or anything?"

Ruby considered her options before replying. If that girl was looking for Jaune, then giving her any sort of information could work to the huntsman's disadvantage. Telling her anything felt like a betrayal of sorts... but then again, she could easily verify that Jaune did live in that house and she probably wouldn't enjoy being lied to very much. Reluctantly, Ruby nodded her head once more.

"And you are his slave, I assume."

Another nod. "He bought me a few weeks back, yes."

"So he got himself another one. Great." The girl sighed."Did he at least tell you about... anything?"

"What... what do you mean?" Ruby stuttered, hopelessly confused.

The cat faunus narrowed her eyes. She then approached Ruby, getting uncomfortably close to the smaller girl, and looked her straight in the eye.

"What is your favorite fairytale?" She asked, the tone of her voice perfectly serious.

Ruby blinked. She did not expect that sort of question. Why did it matter what her favorite fairytale was?

"Um..." The wolf faunus struggled to find a suitable answer. Her mother had told her some fairy stories, but Ruby barely remembered any of it after all these years. "Well there was a nice fairytale about the girl in a red hood, though it got kind of scary at the end..."

"So you don't know. Great." The intruder sighed, irritated for some reason. Not a good sign.

"You're right. I don't know anything." Ruby said slowly. "I'm not important and I have nothing you could want. Will you please not hurt me?"

"I said I wasn't going to kill you!" The intruder exclaimed, clearly indignant.

"Yes, thank you. But now I'd like you to promise not to do any other nasty things."

"Like what?" The cat faunus raised her eyebrow.

"I mean, I would really rather not get beaten, whipped, scourged, electrocuted, burned, molested..." Ruby began listing all the awful things she either experienced or was threatened with over the course of her life.

"Why would I do any of these things!?" The intruder was visibly offended. "Who do you take me for!?"

"I don't know! You break into somebody's house with a weird gun and dressed like a penguin!"

"What do you mean dressed like a penguin? That is..." The girl paused upon seeing Ruby back away in fear. "Look Ruby, I'm sorry it played out like that. I really don't want to hurt you in any way. I was just waiting here for your... owner to come home." She spat out the word 'owner' as though it was some sort of an insult.

Ruby processed the information. Jaune was a huntsman, so there was really only one thing he could do upon seeing a runaway faunus – apprehend her and hand her over to authorities. And, the powerful huntsman he was, it would probably be pretty easy for him, even if the intruder could use that strange weapon of hers.

Ruby wasn't sure what she was supposed to think about that. She didn't want a fellow faunus to be punished for escape and breaking into somebody's house – the mere thought of what kind of punishment it would entail made the wolf faunus shiver slightly – but then again, she didn't want the strange girl to succeed in whatever she was trying to do.

The best option was to probably bide time until Jaune's return. If the fight broke out between him and the cat faunus, Ruby would just stay back and wait for it to end. Hopefully the other girl would realize how outmatched she undoubtedly was and just run away. It would be the best outcome for everyone involved.

"Alright." Ruby finally said. "I trust you not to hurt me, I guess."

"I won't." The cat faunus assured her. "My name is Blake, by the way. I don't think I introduced myself before."

"Um, nice to meet you, Blake." Ruby replied awkwardly. She desperately tried to remember some human methods of keeping the conversation going, since every moment 'Blake' spent talking was a moment not spent on reconsidering whether or not killing Ruby was a good idea. "So, do you come here often."

_Seriously? What answer are you expecting to get? _Voice of Reason criticized Ruby's choice of words.

"Every once in a while." Blake replied, surprising Ruby a fair bit. Had that girl made attempts to rob Jaune's house in the past?

"And what are you doing here now?" Ruby dared to ask. "If you don't mind telling me, that is."

"Not at all, actually. I am a high ranking member of the White Fang, performing a mission on behalf of the brotherhood." The cat faunus replied, pride audible in her voice.

"Um…" Ruby couldn't form any other reply. It seemed appropriate to say something in response, but she simply had no idea what the other faunus was babbling about.

"You never heard about the White Fang?" Blake asked, clearly dissatisfied with Ruby's lack of knowledge.

"Ah, that White Fang!" Ruby exclaimed, feigning amazement. "Of course I heard about you. You guys are great, really. I wish you all luck in, well, whatever is it you are doing..."

"Stop." Blake said firmly, before sighing deeply once more. "It's alright if you don't know. It makes sense that the humans wouldn't tell you anything."

"Humans don't tell me a lot of things." Ruby agreed. "And when they do, they often make stuff up just to mess with me."

"Well, I think there are some things every faunus should know." The girl's voice assumed a more formal, almost ceremonial tone. "The White Fang is a revolutionary front dedicated to overthrowing the tyrannical system the Four Kingdoms subscribe to and bringing freedom and equality to the faunus from all corners of Remnant."

Ruby tilted her head in confusion. Blake was saying words, but they didn't seem to form any sort of coherent sentence.

"Freedom." Ruby repeated, as to make sure she hadn't misheard anything. "Equality. Faunus."

"Yes." Blake replied. "We seek to end faunus slavery and reclaim our rightful place in the world, through any means necessary. Do you have any problem with that?"

Well, Ruby did had a problem with that concept, or rather how far removed from reality it was. It wasn't just unrealistic, it was downright bizarre.

The part about freedom was silly enough on its own. The Faunus Rebellions, and likely many similar events before them, proved with no room for uncertainty that the faunus could not just win their own freedom. Each time they tried, they got massacred. You'd think that by now every wannabe rebel would had gotten the message, but apparently, some people would just keep trying regardless of the consequences.

And even if that 'White Fang' succeeded in setting all the faunus free – which it wouldn't, obviously – how would they go about achieving equality? Even in theory, that didn't make much sense. There was a reason faunus had been enslaved in the first place, after all. It was because they were a weaker, less capable and, well, an inferior species.

Faunus were not equal to humans. It was really that simple. Humans had created all their Kingdoms, invented all the technology and had hundreds of super-powered warriors among them. The most intelligent faunus Ruby knew were currently helping their masters keep track of the paperwork and the strongest were just tough enough to survive in the mines humans sent them into. Ruby herself, whether she liked it or not, was only good for simple housework. Her life had a measured value, one not larger than that of the TV running in the background. There was no equality there.

Still, valuable or not, Ruby was smart enough to realize that saying all of that to Blake was a pretty poor idea.

"I mean, I don't have anything against you guys." She reassured the intruder. "If you want to go for it, I wish you the best of luck."

"You don't seem very enthusiastic about the topic." The cat faunus made a rather obvious observation. "Do you even want to be free?"

Did Ruby want to be free? She pondered about that for a moment. Only for a moment though, because the answer was pretty obvious. It sounded kind of wrong, but...

Ruby didn't really _care _about freedom that much. She supposed she would take it if the opportunity arose somehow, but she had no idea what she would do with freedom once she had it. Well, that wasn't really true, she knew exactly what she would do. She would come crawling to Jaune, asking him to let her stay as an employee or something.

Because what else she was supposed to do with her life? She wasn't particularly smart or strong and lacked any skills besides doing simple chores. Serving somebody who treated her with care and kindness was the best deal she would ever get, so why shouldn't she take it?

"I mean, I don't really see why should I care about being or not being free very much." Ruby decided that being honest in that matter was safe enough. She probably wouldn't be able to come up with a convincing lie anyway. "I bet you guys all have excellent reasons to fight for freedom, but I kind of have everything I need here."

"Really?" Blake seemed quite surprised to hear Ruby's perfectly logical statement. "You'd be content to live the rest of your life as a slave?"

"As long as I'm not beaten too much, yes. And I have that guaranteed here, so it's all fine."

"I see." Blake stared at Ruby intensely, with some strange emotion written on her face. "So you are really just a trained dog, ready to come to your master's feet at a single command."

"A wolf, actually." Ruby corrected the other girl. "But yeah, the rest is pretty accurate."

The two faunus stared at each other in perfect silence for quite a long moment. After around a minute, Blake groaned loudly and slumped on the coach.

"Forget it. I'm just wasting my breath here. You are a textbook example of Stockholm Syndrome in play."

Ruby didn't know what 'Stockholm Syndrome' was or why Blake was so upset with her. She pondered whether or not it was safe to ask about either of these things, before she heard the front door open up.

Jaune was back. The fear returned as Ruby recalled just how serious the situation was. She was now between two fighters who would no doubt jump to each other's throats in a just few moments. She wasn't sure if screaming something was a good idea, so she just backed away into a corner, awaiting further events.

"Ruby, are you here?" Ruby's master said as he walked through the corridor and into the living room. "I'm back and…"

Upon entering the room, Jaune froze in place – probably an effect of seeing an armed faunus sitting on a couch. He didn't appear quite scared, but definitely surprised. As for Blake, she silently stared at the human without showing much emotion.

The three of them all stayed silent for the next several moments, until Jaune broke the silence by sighing loudly. Really loudly, with a great measure of frustration and resignation.

"Let me handle this." He told Ruby, his voice perfectly calm. "She is not a threat."

So, it looked as though her master had it handled. Or at least he thought he had it handled. Maybe he was underestimating his opponents skill? The cat faunus must have felt confident in her strength if she came to clash with Jaune in the first place.

Regardless, Ruby felt perfectly comfortable staying back. She pressed herself to the nearest wall, prepared to run away at any moment should that prove to be the best survival strategy.

Jaune stepped into the room proper, approaching the cat faunus. He didn't have a weapon on him, but he still didn't appear even remotely afraid. He walked up to the couch and threw its occupant an annoyed stare.

"Seriously, Blake?" He said, visibly annoyed. "You just had to come in uninvited?"

_Wait, what?_

"Oh, I'm sorry for infringing on your property." The tone of Blake's voice clearly indicated that she was not very sorry. "Speaking of, I see you have some new possessions."

"You know it's not like that."

"Does she know it's not like that?"

Ruby did not. In fact, she knew very little of what was going on. The whole situation was extremely confusing and making sense of it was far beyond the reach of her mental capabilities.

_I have no idea what is happening or what we should do. _The Voice of Reason commented. _Other than to keep quiet and see how the situation develops. _

"Well... no." Jaune admitted, sounding somewhat ashamed. "I'll sort this out later, I promise. Now, would you please tell me what exactly you want from me?"

"I'm here with the message." Blake replied. "We located a suitable target. A plantation far enough from the nearest settlement for us to strike. We might even manage that without any lethalities, if you are still bothered by this sort of thing. I put the map on your drawer, along with the date and time."

"That's it?" Jaune raised one of his eyebrows. "Couldn't Adam have sent an encrypted letter, or communicate in some other, simpler manner?"

There was a long moment of silence following that question. It seemed like a sort of meaningful silence, though Ruby didn't have the slightest clue as to what that meaning was.

"Just an excuse to spy on me a little, then." Jaune sighed. "Is that sort of stuff really necessary?"

"I'm just following orders. You can discuss that with Adam in person once we meet on a mission." Blake said, shrugging indifferently. She then narrowed her eyes, not so indifferently. "Assuming you intend to show up, that is."

"I should be able to manage that. Now, if you're done adding up to my TV bill, I suggest you leave."

"So rude." Blake retorted, but she nonetheless stood up from the couch. "But I guess you get to decide which faunus leaves and which stays in your house."

"Cut it." Jaune replied sharply. "And make sure that nobody sees you on your way back."

"Have some faith in me, would you?" Blake approached a nearby window, which Ruby only now noticed was halfway open, as though she was planning on jumping through it. Before she did anything like that, however, she turned towards the huntsman.

"You have that girl's loyalty and I think you know that. Do not abuse that."

And then, the cat faunus disappeared. Not as in exited through the window or the door, she simply faded leaving nothing but air in her place. Ruby had to blink once more to convince herself that she wasn't dreaming or hallucinating, but then again, that was hardly the strangest thing that had happened within the last ten minutes.

After Blake's departure, silence overtook the living room. It wasn't the meaningful kind of silence from earlier, it was the kind of silence that took place when nobody was sure what to say.

"Well, this is awkward." Jaune said, making quite an understatement.

"That girl..." Ruby said slowly, not sure what to ask about first, or even if she should be asking any questions at all. "You knew her before?"

"Yes." Jaune replied briefly.

"She claimed to be a part of some faunus rebel group. The White Fang."

"That's the name."

"Is there anything I should know?" Ruby asked cautiously. She knew that demanding answers was arrogant of someone like her, but she wanted to ease her confusion at least a little bit.

Her owner stood there for a moment, as if thinking what reply he should give. Finally, he sighed and turned back towards the door.

"I think I left something in the gym. Come with me."

/-/

Ruby exited the car alongside her master. Sun was still high in the sky which was still mostly free of clouds, but the day seemed a lot less cheerful than before. Maybe it was because now Ruby was very anxious as to what was about to happen to her.

Did she still trust Jaune after finding out... something extremely important about him? She still remembered all the nice things he had done for her, but for all she knew, these could have been a part of some performance or a cleverly designed trick. Or it might have been genuine after all. She simply didn't know. Everything that she supposedly knew about that man had just been called into question.

What did she _knew _about Jaune? As in, for certain? He was a huntsman, he ran a training program for aspiring huntsmen and huntresses and he was on talking terms with some crazy faunus criminal. This did not paint a coherent picture at all and didn't tell Ruby that much of value.

Because who was Jaune Arc, really? Did he really care about her, or was it all a trick after all? Maybe, in reality, he was even worse than Cardin or Ruby's other owners and he just enjoyed pretending otherwise?

No. Ruby was fairly sure Jaune wasn't like that, no matter what she did or did not know about him. She would give him the benefit of the doubt and let him explain himself properly.

Not that she had much of a choice...

Together, they entered the building, which was empty now that the exercises had concluded. The main hall was in a bit of a mess, ammo casings littering the floor and the equipment being placed in weird places, likely by careless children. Jaune didn't seem concerned with cleaning this up at the moment, instead heading towards the changing rooms in the basement.

Ruby kept following him down the stairs and into the men's locker room. Once there, Jaune approached one set of lockers – of which there were far too many for a dozen or so people, Ruby now realized – and pulled it all away from the wall, revealing a metal door with a single keyhole.

Still silent, the young man pulled out a key from one of his pockets and used it to open the door. The room behind it was dark, so that even Ruby's heightened sense of sight wasn't able to pick up much. Jaune then stepped into the darkness, gesturing for Ruby to go inside as well.

The wolf faunus obliged, although she was getting more nervous with every step. Perhaps all her trust in Jaune was misplaced. Maybe he intended to kill her for overhearing important information and was simply taking her to a remote place to do the deed. Depressingly, it made more sense the more Ruby thought about it.

Was that how Jaune's previous slave ended up? Was that just how it had to be? If so, then Ruby could only hope she would be killed quickly. The faunus who earned themselves an execution were usually killed horribly as to terrify the others into submission, but she hadn't really done anything wrong. Even if Jaune truly intended to kill her, he had no reason to draw her demise out, right?

After entering the chamber, Ruby found herself able to make out some of its features. It was fairly small, had some table in the corned and there appeared to be some stuff hanging down the walls. If she had to guess, the nearest item would be...

Bright light blinded the wolf faunus for the second. After her eyes adjusted to the light, Ruby realized that it was coming from a lightbulb hanging over the room. She also realized that the room was not, in fact, an execution chamber. It was something a little less malevolent, but far weirder.

Every corner of the room was filled with... something. The items ranged from completely mundane, like a pile of books or a box of spare lightbulbs, to strange and exotic like several Grimm masks lying on the table and a colorful umbrella with a blade attached to its tip. Then there were two canisters of paint, a walking stick, a calendar with some random dates underlined, a dust crystal in a glass casing... it seemed as though someone resolved themselves to gather dozens of completely unrelated items in one place and they succeeded brilliantly.

"Well," Jaune threw his hands up, as though presenting the room to Ruby. "Welcome to my lair. I'd tell you to make yourself comfortable, but that place wasn't really designed with comfort in mind."

Ruby blinked. A few minutes ago she wouldn't have thought that her confusion could reach a higher level yet, but that's what just happened.

"I'm sorry, I'm just stalling for time." Jaune sighed. "You are free to ask any questions you want and I'll do my best to answer them."

Ruby spent the next several moments thinking intensely.

"Who are you?" She finally asked. She lacked the information to ask a more specific question and she did want to know just what kind of person her owner really was. "Who are you, like, for real?"

"I'm Jaune Arc." Jaune replied casually. "A son of a Valean general who killed thousands of people in the war and slaughtered thousands more as a punishment for losing. A Beacon Academy graduate, a licensed huntsman with all the benefits it entails. An owner of a small, but profitable business. And a guy who wants to see the Four Kingdoms crumble and fall by his hands." He fixed his sight on Ruby. "Does that answer satisfy you?"

"Well I'd like you to specify the last part..." Ruby muttered nervously.

"As you wish." Jaune kept his voice casual, but it seemed as though he was somewhat nervous as well. "To put it simply, I don't like how my society currently looks. It is screwed up in more ways than I could name before the night falls. Faunus slavery is the most obvious example, but there are a lot of other problems both related and unrelated to it. All the Kingdoms are flawed in some fundamental way, ruled not by its people but by powerful individuals with their own agendas. I have been taking actions to rectify this for a while and that actions include helping the White Fang whenever necessary."

"The White Fang..." Ruby was desperately trying to sort out all the information she had been given. "Blake told me that they are a revolutionary group that fights for freedom and equality for the faunus. Is that true?"

"It might be an idealized image, but yes. The White Fang was formed after Faunus Rebellions, as a way to continue the fight without resorting to a direct confrontation. They work from the shadows, trying to spread its influence wherever possible and rescuing the faunus slaves whenever possible."

"So you help them... but you are not a part of that group yourself?"

"No, I'm not." Jaune shook his head. "For one, they would never accept a human amongst their ranks out of principle. But I also don't agree with their methods wholeheartedly. They are right to demand freedom and are justified in desiring vengeance, but sometimes, they do things I cannot condone."

"You still support them though. Why?" Ruby looked Jaune straight in the eye.

"Because, while imperfect, they are the only people willing to take serious action." Jaune replied. "The only ones who want to help the faunus enough to take the risk and fight the oppressors."

"But _why_?" The wolf faunus kept on asking. "Why bother with fighting for the faunus, or any big cause like that, when it doesn't benefit you in any way? Why risk so much for something that doesn't concern you?"

This time, Jaune did not answer immediately. I looked as though he was struggling with the answer, as though it was painful for him to contemplate.

"Look, you don't have to tell me." Ruby said after a moment. "I don't really need to know any of that, so…"

"No, that's a fair question." Jaune said. "It's not anything traumatic to me, really, just..."

There was a long moment of silence.

"Ever since I could remember, I wanted to be a hero." Jaune started, his voice calm and measured. "More specifically, I wanted to be a huntsman. Military career didn't really appeal to me, I wanted to be someone who directly saves people and reaps the glory. When I was seventeen, I joined Beacon, hoping that I could later graduate and fulfill that dream."

"Now, back then, I wasn't exactly the strongest of people. Heck, I had to fake my transcripts to even get accepted into Beacon. I was absolutely pathetic, especially compared to other students. Looking back at it, I was extremely lucky to have survived the first day mostly unharmed. But, against all odds, I did. And then I got unbelievably lucky by getting the best team and the most amazing partner out of all the first years."

There was yet another pause. A smile appeared on his face, though it was bitter and subdued.

"Everything I wanted, or everything I thought I wanted, came true before I had a chance to graduate. Me and my team have fought many battles together, had many adventures if you call them that. We killed more Grimm than any of us could count, we defended Shade when it was assaulted from all sides, we defeated... well, we did a lot cool stuff. Throughout all that, I kept growing stronger and more confident. I started to think of myself as a hero, someone actually worthy of respect."

"By the time we reached our fourth and final year, our team was widely considered the strongest in Beacon. We were given many missions, most of them not particularly tough considering the level we were on. On time, we were assigned to defend a border settlement against the Grimm. Once we arrived there, it turned out that the locals had a way to make our hunt extremely easy. They would take some faunus slaves from the field, beat them almost to death and put them in cages outside the walls. Their negativity would attract the Grimm to one, designated area, and all we had to do was to station there and kill whatever came out of the forest."

"See, I never really cared about the faunus prior to that. I didn't hate them like my father did, but I didn't really consider them people either. Just animals that needed to be kept in check and were better off in captivity anyway. But when I saw all these faunus... all these _people _imprisoned, in pain and afraid for their lives, I was suddenly unable to lie to myself anymore. My teammates felt much the same way – they are all better people than me and the situation seemed even more screwed up to them. Before our work was done, we opened all the cages and let all the faunus inside free. Well, those that were still able to walk anyways."

What happened to other ones went unsaid. That part Ruby understood perfectly.

"That day, something about me changed. All that confidence I had built up had wavered when I realized that, no matter how good of a huntsman I would be and no matter how many Grimm I would kill, there would still be millions of people living in misery outside of my protection. But I didn't know what to do about it at the time, so I just carried on. I passed the final exams, received my license and went on to hunt professionally."

"Now, decent huntsmen make quite of lot in revenue. By the time I finished Beacon I already had a nice sum of lien on my hands from the missions I did on behalf of the school and that sum only increased once I got to perform missions on my own. Not that I was ever in any serious need of money, as my family is quite wealthy. Soon after graduating, I was able to afford my own place and I kind of needed someone to look after it. In spite of my moral quarries, I decided to buy a slave. I picked a girl, not that much older than you are now."

Right. The slave Jaune had owned a few years back. It matched Cardin's description as well, at least for the time being.

"I thought that if I treated her well, I would be doing her a favor." Jaune's expression was strange now. Somewhat angry, somewhat amused, somewhat regretful. "That it would make me better than the rest of my species, that I could be benevolent slave owner. I was stupid. The only right treatment of slaves is emancipation. The only correct way of dealing in slavery is abolishing it."

Ruby felt an urge to point out that she disagreed with that statement, that it was kind of hypocritical of a slave owner to say something like and that she wasn't sure what that emancipation thing was, but she ultimately kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to argue with Jaune, especially not at the moment.

"Really, I'm not sure what I was thinking. Was I expecting the person whom I held captive against their will to be grateful for not being even worse to her? To appreciate that I didn't exploit her as much as I could? I was a fool, nothing more to be said about that. I didn't beat her or neglect her, but the threat was still there. She knew that I held all the cards, that I had all this power over her and that if I ever changed my mind, gotten really upset or forgot to show restraint..." Jaune massaged his temple. "Neither of us was comfortable like that, but I couldn't just sell her to a random person or kick her out and onto the streets. Eventually, I decided that I just can't keep going like that. I did the only thing that seemed to solve the problem."

Then, Ruby recalled. Jaune was said to be guilty of killing his slave, something which bothered Ruby quite a lot when she first arrived at house. She assumed it was either a show of cruelty or an accident on his part, but now it made so much more sense.

"You... killed her?" Ruby asked.

"I trained her." Jaune replied.

Ruby blinked.

"She wasn't happy as a slave, wanted to do more than just serve some human, a polite one or not. So I offered to teach her how to fight, how to defend herself in times of need. She took me up on that offer. I unlocked her aura and taught her a few things, mostly controlling that aura and a bit of sword fighting. She soon developed her own fighting style, quite distinct from mine and she unlocked quite a useful semblance at that."

At that moment, realization struck Ruby. "Blake... it was her, wasn't it?"

"Smart girl." Jaune remarked with a slight smile. "Blake proved herself a good student. Seeing her train, fight and just be a good person caused me to drop all the doubts I had on whether the faunus deserved freedom or not. I understood that the current social order is unacceptable and that it needs correction. My teammates would agree with me on that, and so would quite a few other humans, but the only major bastion of resistance were the ones who suffered the most . The rebel faunus organizations, the largest and most successful of them being the White Fang."

"I was hesitant to work with them at first. When I first contacted them, I half expected them to try to capture and murder me simply for being a human. I heard some nasty stuff about them, how they commit atrocities on daily basis and how they are really just a bunch of maniacs aiming to destroy humanity."

"Are they though?" Ruby interrupted. It was rude of her, perhaps, but her owner did allow her to ask questions beforehand. "The White Fang, that is. Are they really this heroic group Blake says they are?"

"You seem quite skeptical of them." Jaune noticed. " Which is a healthy attitude, don't get me wrong. There are members of the Fang that just want to kill humans and those who believe that the only path to liberation is to wipe out humanity off the face of Remnant. But most of them are just faunus who are not content with living their lives as slaves and have enough courage to fight for their freedom. I am willing to help them out, even if they hate me for my heritage."

Ruby nodded, though she didn't truly understand her owner there. Helping somebody who hated you only made sense if they had power over you, such as a whip to beat you with.

"Anyways, you can probably figure out the rest of the story. I made an alliance of sorts with the White Fang, we went on some raids and missions together. Eventually, Blake decided to formally join the organization, to fight alongside her faunus brothers and sisters rather than a human who still formally claimed ownership over her. I agreed, on the condition that she would stay low whenever possible and wouldn't let anyone unauthorized know that the two of us are in any way connected. This allowed me to pretend I had killed her, which both explained her disappearance and made my cover more convincing. A while after that I came up with the idea for this gym, which now serves as an excellent excuse for me to store a lot of weapons and unusual equipment. Besides, training Blake made me realize that I actually enjoy teaching quite a lot. For the last two years I have been oscillating between working at the gym and aiding the White Fang, with some other huntsman activities occasionally thrown in. I gained the trust of the faunus I worked with, I got myself a new house in a less populated area, just so that it's easier for me to sneak out unnoticed and..."

"And then you bought me." Ruby finished. "Why? I don't have anything against you, but... if you hate slavery so much, then why own a slave yourself?"

"Partially because I needed someone to cook dinners." Jaune replied. "But mostly as a smokescreen. People generally don't expect an abolitionist to own slaves, so it misleads people who would be suspicious about me otherwise, even those who didn't hear the official story regarding Blake. Just about any slave could fill that role, but I figured that buying one from Cardin was the best choice. I knew I wouldn't be pulling you away from a place you liked. Trust me, I don't like an idea of owning another person, but it definitely seems like a lesser evil in this case."

"I see..." Ruby wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel regarding that revelation. From the very beginning she was meant to be a distraction, a piece of a complex deception. It should have felt like a good thing, since it made her more valuable and thus less disposable, but it also made matters somewhat more complicated.

"Well, I think I went through the most important stuff. Is there anything else you wanted to know?"

Ruby pondered about that for a second. She had already been given a lot to take in and she didn't feel as though she fully understood all of that. Perhaps a nap would help her process all the information. Still, there was one more question that simply needed to be asked.

"What happens now?" Ruby asked quietly. "Now that I know all of that stuff?"

"I would appreciate it if you just stayed with me, at least for the time being. It would look suspicious if I lost another slave just like that, no matter what excuse I make. Still, if there is some place you'd rather be in, I can see what can be done."

Well, the peak of weirdness had been reached. Her owner was asking her whether she wanted to leave. It made sense with someone like Jaune of course, who apparently believed that faunus such as her deserved freedom for some reason, but it still felt quite surreal.

But just because it was an unusual choice to make didn't mean that it was a hard one. There simply was nowhere Ruby wanted to go, nobody she needed to find. Yes, she had a mother and a sister, but she had no idea where either of them could be or if they were still alive after all these years. In this case, it was better for her to leave the past behind.

"I'm glad to hear it." Jaune smiled, but then his expression turned unusually stern. "There is one thing though. You must not tell anyone about anything you just heard. No exceptions, no excuses. If people find out the truth about what I do, I'm going to become a major target for the authorities. And if I go down, many other people will feel the blow. I hate making threats, but if you don't comply on that front, I will have to take action. Do you understand?"

Ruby understood. The threat prompted her old instincts to kick in and she nodded her head fervently. "Yes, yes I do."

"I'm sorry for threatening you like that." Jaune said, his voice and expression more relaxed now. "But it is really important."

"No, I get that." She really did. Heck, if she decided to betray Jaune after everything he's done for her, she would fully deserve to face the consequences, whatever they would be. "I will not say a word to anyone, I promise."

"I trust you." Jaune said, absolute certainty in his voice. "If you don't have anything else to ask, we may as well get going. It is kind of crowded here."

Ruby only nodded in response. The two of them then left the strange room, Jaune flicking the light switch off and shutting the door behind him. Once both of them were back in the locker room he shoved the set of lockers back to its place, so that it covered the metal door once more.

As they walked upstairs, Ruby was still struggling to make sense out of everything she had been told. Although Jaune's explanations were logical, they contradicted everything Ruby always took for granted and introduced a new level of weirdness to the world that had once seemed so simple.

And then there was something that Ruby simply didn't have an answer to yet. Something that she almost forgot about, but what still bothered her somewhat, as though she had been given an unclear order.

"Actually, may I ask one more thing?" Ruby said before they managed to reach the front exit.

"Of course." Jaune turned towards the faunus. "What is it?"

"When I was talking to Blake, before you arrived, she did something weird. She looked me in the eyes and asked what my favorite fairytale was. Just like that, out of nowhere. Did that, well, mean anything?"

"It's a passphrase of sorts." Jaune replied. "Most people will just be confused when you ask them that. But those in the upper layers of White Fang will recognize the phrase and give an expected reply. She was probably just checking whether or not I told you anything sensitive."

"What are you supposed to reply to something like that?" Ruby asked. "If you can tell me, that is."

"I'd rather not. It's a secret and not just mine." Jaune smiled apologetically. "I don't think folks at the White Fang would appreciate me spilling out classified data like that."

"Of course." Ruby said, nodding. "I get that I already know too much."

"I wouldn't put it like that. You needed to know all these things and I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark. I hope you won't hold that against me."

"I don't." Ruby shook her head. "You don't need to feel guilty about that."

"I kind of do." Ruby's owner replied. "Still, thanks for understanding. If you ever think of any more questions, don't hesitate to ask."

_Please don't ask any more questions. _The Voice of Reason begged. _I have enough to process as it stands._

Ruby nodded slowly in response. Maybe later she would come up with some questions worth asking, but at the moment, she knew significantly more than she could wrap her head around.

Seemingly satisfied with that reply, Jaune moved to open the exit door. Before he pulled a knob, however, he turned towards his slave once more with a strange expression on his face.

"And Ruby? Don't be afraid. Not of me, not of anything else. My words still stand. I will not hurt you and I will protect you if needed." His voice didn't sound comforting, not in the same way it had been when Ruby's first arrived at his house. It was deadly serious, making it almost impossible to doubt the statement.

"I… I trust you." Ruby stuttered. She wasn't sure if these words were really honest – she found it hard to put her trust in anything at the moment. But she would show her master as much trust as she could. He deserved that at the very least.

"Thanks, I won't let you down." With these words, Jaune opened the door and walked outside. Ruby followed behind him, also stepping out of the building and into the open air.

The sun was still shining brightly, but even with her fear out of the way, Ruby struggled to appreciate how nice the day was. In her mind, she still pictured the strange room, still weighed the implications of the things she had been told.

But was there any point to thinking about it so much? None of these things really mattered to her, not necessarily. Whatever great mission Jaune had undertaken, it didn't concern Ruby in any meaningful way. He was still her owner and he still didn't intend to hurt her. Ruby's role didn't change either – just do some menial tasks and be useful simply through sticking around. At the end of the day, nothing had really changed.

Had it?

* * *

**Plot twist! Seriously though, I'm sorry if you think the revelation came out of nowhere. I have put some foreshadowing in the previous chapter, but perhaps it still wasn't a proper set-up. At least I can say I have stuck to the plan.**

**And yes, I had planned for Jaune to be secret abolitionist from the beginning – as in, the moment I decided to write that fic. I originally intended to reveal that even earlier, perhaps in the second or third chapter, but I decided that it would be good to give Ruby more time with Jaune before crushing her worldview once again. That is more or less my philosophy when it comes to writing – I have most of the plot planned out in advance, but I will change the details as I see fit.**

**As for the near future, however, I can't really tell you when the next chapter will come out. I am absolutely terrible with predicting how long it will take me to write something, as I have proven numerous times in the past. I will try to be quick, but I can promise no more. I know for sure that I will update The Royal Test first though, since the next chapter is partially written already.**


	5. Point Of No Return

**So, I'm sure some people didn't like the direction the story seems to be heading in. While I'm sorry if you came for a different kind of story, this doesn't change the fact I have my plan and I will stick to it as closely as possible. That said, you probably shouldn't assume you know what exactly the direction is. This story is, as I mentioned at the beginning, told from an extremely unreliable perspective. You only see what Ruby can see and that might or might not be enough to accurately judge what is going to happen next.**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

Ruby was bored.

It was one of the many new sensations she got to experience recently and one of the few negative ones. It was very strange, almost alien in a sense.

She knew what boredom was, of course. It was one of the main things whiny humans would often complain about and probably the most ironic one, since one would think that they didn't really need to keep a slave if they had to little to do themselves.

Ruby also had a chance to witness sensations somewhat similar to boredom in many ways. At several points in her life she was kept in a cell for days and she certainly didn't enjoy not being able to do almost anything when imprisoned like that.

This, however, was different. Ruby wasn't caged, chained or locked away. She was free to do whatever she wanted within the confines of the house... there just wasn't anything to do.

Gods, how bizarre that sounded even now. Back when she was actually treated like a slave, she always had something to do. A floor to clean, a meal to cook, a room to tidy up. Even by the time everything was done, it was still better to be extra-sure and do more than necessary, so that her owners wouldn't punish her for idleness and maybe even reward her for hard work. Once Ruby was sure there was nothing else to be done, she would just collapse on the floor and fall asleep, exhausted by the day of stress and labor.

Now, however, things were different. The house was about as clean as it could be, food was in the fridge ready to be consumed and even though Ruby was still giving her fullest, she found herself with several hours of _free time _almost every day.

What did humans do to kill boredom that annoyed them so much? A lot of different things, as far as Ruby was aware. More intricate activities such as doing sports or going out to town were obviously out of her reach, but maybe there were still some things Ruby could do to stop herself from feeling so bored?

Reading didn't work. Jaune had some books lying around, but none of them managed to draw in Ruby's attention in the slightest. Maybe she was being picky when it came to books, but every single one she read had some strange plot she was either uninterested in or failed to understand. The fantasy novels at least had some cool descriptions of magical creatures and places from time to time, but other ones were simply boring and involved the characters doing stupid stuff for no reason. The romance novels were particularly bad – not only were they boring, most of them was woefully unrealistic as well. Ruby knew from experience how copulating or 'love' looked – it involved either a man taking a woman by force or the woman seducing the man for material gain. Not some overdrawn dates and certainly not this stupid 'love at first sight' crap.

TV was only a little better. Some of the movies and cartoons were genuinely cool, but then there were the sports events Ruby didn't care about, the shows about people talking Ruby didn't understand and the news Ruby didn't understand not care about. And besides, she still couldn't quite get over that lingering feeling that she would be punished for slacking off instead of working.

And just like that, Ruby's thoughts trailed onto the topic of her owner once more. It had been over a week since their talk regarding the White Fang and Jaune's plans for the future, and yet Ruby still couldn't quite wrap her head around it all.

She would had never thought that any human would ever resolve themselves to liberate the faunus. It was weird, illogical and just _wrong _on multiple levels. I meant that Jaune – and probably a bunch of other humans, if what he said about his teammates was correct – felt a great deal of sympathy towards the faunus, was willing to go against his own species because of that sympathy and that he thought setting all the faunus slaves free was the best way of helping them.

While the former two of these peculiarities could be explained away by Jaune being just that good of a guy, the last one was just bizarre. Even in the absolute best case scenario, even assuming that the White Fang managed to start another rebellion and win, there would still be a lot of people dying on both sides. Wouldn't it be better to try and help the faunus without necessarily freeing them? Set up a charity, start a campaign against animal abuse or something like that? After all, if every slave was treated as Ruby was at the moment, there would be no good reason to rebel either way. Nobody would run away from a warm bed and clean clothing.

Well, maybe except Blake...

Ruby didn't want to be judgmental, as judging people wasn't really her job. She just couldn't understand why the cat faunus got so offended when Ruby told her that she didn't care about freedom. Sure, Blake might have had a good reason for desiring to be free – although Ruby couldn't imagine why, since her last master was Jaune – but why would she think everyone else would share that reason? Was it wrong to just be happy with what you had?

For most of her life, Ruby had only cared about getting something to eat and not getting beaten. Now that she had both of these guaranteed, there was nothing more for her to fight for. She had won. She was perfectly fine with being considered property, if it meant everything would stay like that.

But would everything stay like that?

That was the biggest problem with this whole situation. Before Jaune told her all that crazy stuff, Ruby thought that he simply wanted a slave to keep his house clean and was nice enough not to neither mistreat her, nor to sell her to someone who would mistreat her. Now, Ruby knew that her main purpose was to serve as a misdirection for anyone suspicious about her master. That made her more important, but at the same time it made her more disposable. Literally any slave could perform this role just as well as Ruby – even better, now that Ruby knew all that stuff she wasn't supposed to know. If Jaune ever thought that keeping Ruby around was a danger to his secret, he could sell her off and get himself another 'smokescreen'. Worse yet, there was nothing Ruby could do to make herself less disposable, since it didn't matter how hard she worked and debasing herself would only serve to annoy her owner.

And would happen if Jaune and the White Fang succeeded? If they ended slavery and won freedom for all the faunus? That would make Ruby utterly useless to Jaune, as he would have no need to play the part of the slave owner any further. What would happen to her then? Would Jaune let her stay so that she could keep doing all those simple chores, or would he kick her onto the street and congratulate himself for 'emancipating' her?

That thought was really scary. Being a slave was still scary as well, even with someone like Jaune as her master, but that fear was familiar. Ruby knew how she was supposed to deal with her owner's wrath – that is to be obedient and keep her mouth shut – and she was familiar with the consequences of failure, however horrible they were. But the thought of being abandoned just like that was something more alien, something she didn't know how to approach.

Throughout most of her life, Ruby saw freedom as something unattainable. Not bad, just unattainable, not even worth considering. Something that would be cool to have, at least in theory. But now that being free was at least a semi-realistic prospect, the girl realized that not only did she have no idea what to do with freedom, she had no idea how to _handle _freedom. Most of her previous owners would house her and feed her not because they needed her for anything, but because they enjoyed having somebody to boss around. If Jaune were to really free her, she would be worth even less than she had been as a slave. She heard about the whole 'unemployment' thing and knew that even educated humans had trouble finding somebody who would pay them for working. The best deal a faunus like her would ever get would be to cook and clean in exchange for food and shelter – something that she could stand, but was nowhere near as good as what she had at the current moment.

_Thinking about this is pointless. _The Voice of Reason argued. _There is no way for the White Fang to succeed. They will never manage to defeat the entire human race, certainly not within your lifetime. _

That was probably true... but the scenario Ruby was worried about could occur even without a full victory of Jaune's part. If the Vale's authorities even _allowed _its citizens to free their slaves, chances are Jaune would jump at the opportunity out of some misguided care for his servant. He seemed almost regretful for owning her and would gladly get rid of his guilt.

But maybe... maybe there really was no point thinking about that. There was no decision for Ruby to make that would significantly impact her future. In that respect, she was still a slave both in theory and practice. She could choose when she would go to sleep, what she would eat or even whether she would work at all, but she had no choice whether or not she would be free in a few years.

Even Ruby could notice the irony there.

Her musing were cut short by the sound of the front door being opened. Since almost no person would come to a huntsmen's house uninvited, and the one person who would do that preferred to use windows, that meant that Jaune was back from the 'hunt', as he kept calling his missions regardless of whether there were any Grimm involved. Intending to greet him, Ruby stood up from her bed and marched downstairs, forcing her tail to stop wiggling on her way down. She was a wolf, not a dog. Some dignity was in place.

Upon reaching the ground floor and seeing her owner come in, the faunus froze.

Jaune was messed up. Ruby had already seen him wounded, she knew that he wasn't invincible, but she had never seen him in quite as bad of a state. His vest had several holes and scratches on it, blood pouring from one of them. He didn't walk with his usual confidence – in fact, he seemed barely able to stand and didn't as much walk into the house as he stumbled forwards, gripping the wall with one hand to avoid falling down. It seemed more than just regular exhaustion, though that was present as well judging from Jaune's tired, empty gaze.

Her tail couldn't decide whether it should perk up or lie down, as fear and sadness battled in her mind. She wasn't sure whether or not she was supposed to approach her master, so she simply stood in place as he trudged into the living room and sat down on a couch.

"A Death Stalker got my on my way back." He said, not looking at Ruby but clearly addressing her. "Bring me the venom antidote, now."

Ruby didn't waste a single second. She was prepared for this sort of scenario, as Jaune ran her through the functions of all the medicine a while back. She ran into the bathroom and immediately began searching through the drawers. There were multiple small bottles stuffed in there – Jaune's paranoia was not limited to home security – but all of them were neatly labeled, so finding the right one didn't take very long.

Careful not to drop the bottle, the faunus carried it back to the living room. She tried to hand it over to Jaune, who was now sitting on the couch, but her master shook his head at that.

"I don't think I can apply it myself." He said, pulling his shirt up and revealing a rather nasty, fresh wound on his belly. "Just pour it over. It as simple as that."

Ruby wasn't all that confident in her ability to do even something as simple as that, but both her reason and learned instinct told her not to argue. She nervously open the bottle, which contained some odorless liquid, approached Jaune and carefully poured the contents of the bottle onto the wound.

If the huntsman felt any pain at that, he didn't let it show very much. He remained perfectly calm, save for a slight grimace on his face. Once Ruby was done, he pulled his shirt back down and lied down fully on the couch.

"Thanks. That's all I really needed." Jaune said, now visibly relieved. "The antidote should neutralize the poison in no time."

"Are you sure about that?" Ruby asked worryingly. "I can call a doctor or…"

"Don't." Jaune interrupted. "I'd have to answer some tough questions. I'll be fine like that, just… give me a moment to sleep." Not waiting for a response, he closed his eyes. It took only about a minute for his breathing to even out, implying that he managed to fall asleep already.

Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. Not complete relief, since she was still somewhat scared, but Jaune saying that he would be alright made her much less worried.

Worried. Ruby almost forgot how it was to fear for someone other than herself. Sure, she felt bad whenever she saw other people hurt, but she was never really _worried_. Other's suffering generally did not affect her directly and sometimes, in a messed-up way, helped her somewhat. If some other slave was getting publically flogged, their master would be more satisfied and less likely to hurt Ruby as well. She would never try to get someone punished for that reason, but she wouldn't _really _be worried for them either.

That situation was different. It was strange for her to be concerned about her owner, but it made perfect sense. If Jaune died just like that, what would happen to her? Regardless of what her master said in private, legally she was still a piece of property. She supposed that if Jaune died, his will would determine to whom Ruby would be handed. Maybe he prepared for that possibility, maybe he made sure that Ruby wouldn't end up with an abusive master again. Maybe she would be handed over to one of Jaune's friends, those who supposedly saw faunus as people just like him. But even then... it just wouldn't be the same.

It was hard to place, but Ruby liked living with Jaune not only because she got tasty meals or a warm bed. She liked him specifically and not for any concrete reason. It wasn't romantic – the thought of getting _physical _with him still sent shivers down her spine. It just felt really nice to have someone who cared about her in a genuine manner. Even just thinking of losing that, of losing Jaune, hurt immensely.

Ruby sighed. The problem with feeling safe was that it only lasted as long as you didn't think about the future. About all the things that could still happen, all the ways you could easily lose your safety.

The wolf faunus sat on the couch next to her master and cuddled close to the young man. It made her feel a little bit more comfortable, as though being next to the huntsman somehow made them both safer. It was stupid, she knew it was stupid – in his current state, Jaune would be utterly unable to defend her and she would never be able to defend him against anything dangerous.

A thought crossed Ruby's mind. A stupid thought, an extremely stupid thought. But one she couldn't help but consider.

_No. _The Voice of Reason stated bluntly. _You had it right, you cannot protect him. You cannot protect anyone. That's not what you were trained to do._

And yet, Ruby kept on thinking. Maybe there was a way to make Jaune less likely to get rid of her. Maybe there was even a way to defend him from danger. Stupid or not, Ruby just couldn't let go of it...

/-/

It took Jaune over an hour to awake from his slumber. Ruby was surprised he woke up at all – she expected him to sleep until morning and was prepared to stay at his side the entire time. Maybe something about being a huntsman made it impossible for him to fall into a truly deep slumber. Or maybe he didn't feel all that comfortable sleeping on the couch and fully clothed. He was still a human and therefore allowed to care about things such as that.

"Oh, Ruby." Jaune said upon getting up. "It's really late. You should probably go to sleep already."

"I wanted to make sure you're alright." Ruby replied, even though that wasn't the only reason she stayed at Jaune's side. There was something she needed to ask, but she just couldn't find the right words at the moment...

"Well I am." Jaune replied, getting up from the couch. "I've been through worse before and survived. Right now, I just need to wash myself and get a night's sleep."

With these words, the huntsman walked away and towards the staircase. Ruby battled her own thoughts, unsure whether she wanted to talk at the moment.

"Wait." The girl finally said, deciding that yes, she wanted to talk at this very moment. Jaune reacted by turning around and looking at Ruby with surprise, not the least concerned about a slave addressing him in such a blunt manner. Typical.

"Well, um, I was thinking. Just now." Ruby began, fully aware of how stupid she sounded. "You told me all of that stuff, about the White Fang and Blake and everything and there is something I've been wondering about..."

"Yes?" Jaune urged her. Apparently, for all his patience, he was still somewhat annoyed with Ruby's stuttering.

The faunus took a deep breath. She took several seconds to decide what exactly she wanted to say, and once that decision had been made, she said it in a single breath.

"Can you teach me how to fight?"

"Excuse me?" Jaune replied, blinking in surprise. Ruby immediately felt ashamed at making such a request, but she saw it fit to explain herself, even if she would just end up getting rejected.

"Well, I know how that sounds." The wolf faunus replied, her mouth running on automatic as it spewed out words as fast as it could. "I don't know anything about fighting, I'm not strong or smart or anything like that, but I now know that it is possible to train a faunus to fight properly so..."

"Hold." Jaune ordered, prompting Ruby to fall silent immediately. "You are absolutely right that it is possible to teach almost anyone to fight properly with some effort. I was absolutely pathetic before joining Beacon. Even the strongest of fighters had to make the first step at one point. And there is nothing particularly hard about teaching a faunus how to fight, as the White Fang has proven many times over. That's not the reason I'm surprised."

"What is it, then?" Ruby asked nervously.

"Well, let me put it bluntly: Why do you wish to fight?" Jaune asked, looking at his slave with interest, maybe a suspicion of sorts. "Because, correct me if I'm wrong, but you never seemed like you considered anything like that."

Ruby pondered what answer she was supposed to give. If she gave her honest reasons for wanting to become stronger – to be both closer and more useful to her master – she would get turned down on the spot. Said reasons didn't sound very solid even to her and they would certainly sound even worse to Jaune. He would tell her something along the lines of 'Don't worry, I'll be fine' or 'I would never think of leaving you' regardless of whether it was actually true or not.

But there was a way to make Jaune accept, or at the very least consider the idea. He would never agree to train her only to make her more useful, it wouldn't be like him. But if she just so happened to share his reasons for fighting...

"Well, I never really thought about it this way." Ruby started. "But I really hate to see my people enslaved. I wish I could do something about it, as in, personally. If you teach me fighting, I might be able to help some people. Or maybe help you help some people. It just seems like a good idea, to me at least."

A lie. A blatant, straight-up lie. Ruby didn't truly care about whatever cause Jaune and the White Fang were fighting for and had severe doubts on whether their goals were in any way feasible. But the real reason wasn't as convincing. Ruby felt bad for being so dishonest towards her master, but she had already weighed all the pros and cons and decided that it would be worth it in the end. Probably.

"I suppose that makes sense." Jaune seemed a little less surprised now, but still looked doubtful to say the least. "But Ruby, a proper combat training, the likes of which I gave Blake, is a pretty serious matter. It is tough and dangerous. And actual fighting is even tougher and more dangerous. Are you sure you want this?"

_You know, I'm not always against telling lies. _Voice of Reason said. _But if a lie has a chance of getting us hurt or killed, maybe you should consider sticking to the truth? Please?_

"Yes." Ruby replied, ignoring the voice inside her head. "I want to make a change somehow, even if that ends up being hard or risky."

Jaune didn't reply immediately. He stood there in silence for almost a minute, as he no doubt contemplated how he was supposed to answer.

"I will think about this." He finally said. "And so should you. Get some rest, think this through one, two, or eight more times. This is an important choice and should not be made lightly."

With these words, Jaune climbed up the stairs and disappeared into his room. Ruby wasn't sure whether she was supposed to be disappointed, breathe a sigh of relief or just punch herself for being stupid.

Because she was. That idea of hers, to learn combat from her master and possibly convince him to let her fight at his side, was stupid. She had all the good reasons for wanting to stay close to Jaune, but that probably wasn't the right way to achieve that goal. The concept of fighting humans didn't excite her in the slightest – to the contrary, the thought alone left her utterly terrified, as she knew very well how hopeless of a fight that was and what happened to the faunus who fought it and got unlucky enough to be taken alive.

But that was her only idea. Ruby saw no other way to make herself useful as Jaune wouldn't really appreciate any other form of service. Menial labor was welcome, but it wasn't something her owner couldn't get by without. At the moment, Ruby wasn't worth very much. She was disposable. That thought scared her a little bit more than the thought of fighting humans, even if it logically didn't make much sense.

_You admit that you're not making any sense! You admit that yourself! _Voice of Reason wallowed miserably. _How can you say that something is stupid and then do it anyway?_

It was because she didn't want to sit idly. Maybe it was something about her animal heritage, maybe it was all the slave conditioning or maybe it was just her being illogical, but Ruby _hated _doing nothing. There was nothing that annoyed her more than being threatened by something she couldn't do anything about. Whenever she feared punishment, she would do her best to avoid or mitigate it however she could. This situation was different, but the same principle still applied. doing something was better than doing nothing. Probably.

Of course, all of that wouldn't really matter if Jaune decided that he didn't want to waste time with her. If that turned out to be the case, Ruby would simply thank her master for consideration and kept on working as to make herself a little bit more valuable. At the very least, no matter what Jaune's decision would end up being, Ruby would be honestly able to say that she tried to buy herself more safety. In a way.

There was one thing her owner was definitely right about – Ruby was tired. Maybe not physically, since she hadn't done all that much work, but all that thinking was pretty exhaustive on its own. Perhaps catching some sleep really would help her think clearly.

With that in mind, Ruby headed towards her own room. She had nothing better to do than wait until the next day and for Jaune to make up his mind. She just hoped that, whatever the verdict was, it wouldn't mean she had screwed up spectacularly.

/-/

It was almost noon and Ruby still wasn't sure whether she had screwed up spectacularly.

True to his word, Jaune did not die in his sleep. By the time he woke up, he looked pretty much fine, though he still seemed somewhat tired and definitely troubled, the latter probably being Ruby's fault rather than anything else. He picked up his sword, put on fresh clothes and told Ruby – who naturally had gotten up several hours earlier than him – to come with him to the gym once again, this time not bothering to state the reason. He wasn't particularly talkative, not having spoken a single word during the half-hour long ride to their destination. Ruby didn't dare to break the silence – it felt like a dangerous thing to do, even though she was reasonably certain that Jaune wouldn't lash out at her. He just seemed so much more serious than in everyday situations. Even when he was telling his story and giving away his secrets, he didn't seem that tense. That attitude alone made Ruby seriously question her decisions, as if she didn't have enough doubts already.

At the moment, Ruby and Jaune were in the central part of the Arc Gym. It was Saturday, so the entire building was empty save for the two of them. Having locked the door from the inside, Jaune sat down on one of the boxes and gestured Ruby to do the same.

"So, let me get the most important thing out of the way." He said once the faunus was situated on her box. "Do you still stand by your decision? Do you still intend to fight for your species?"

_No. Not really._

"Yes, I do." Ruby replied. "I do want to help people. And besides, knowing how to fight can't hurt, right? I can always..."

"Wrong." Jaune interrupted. The tone of his voice was unusually firm at the moment. "Horribly wrong. Strength has its price, one that is not paid casually. Once you decide that you wish to learn how to fight, you will have to use that ability. You won't be able to turn back."

"But why?" Ruby asked, taken aback by her owner's words. "I mean, I know that you know more than me on the topic, I'm not questioning you. But why won't I be able to turn back? Will you force me to fight?"

"No, not me. It's just..." Jaune paused, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He seemingly contemplated something for a minute, before he opened his eyes once again and resumed speaking. "It is pretty confusing. There are several types of combat training, drastically different from each other. Let me explain this to you, so that it is clear what we are actually talking about."

"There is what most people would call combat sports." Jaune continued, now sounding a bit more calm. "Boxing, wrestling, all the Mistralian martial arts with funny names. It's all equally worthless. Those disciplines make for a good sport and can be pretty fun from what I heard, but they just don't work in actual combat situations. If you have to resort to punching, kicking or strangling your opponent and have no actual weapon at hand, it probably means you are better off simply retreating, because anyone who actually wants to hurt you will have a weapon with them. I can teach you some of that stuff if you are simply bored, but I guarantee that you won't have any use of it. It all works as exercise, but to call it fighting is rather dishonest."

"I... don't want that." Ruby replied. The kind of fighting Jaune just described would do nothing to further her goals, it seemed.

"As I thought. Now, the other type of combat training worth mentioning is the... mundane kind, let us say. One given to soldiers, policemen, plain old hunters and people such as that. It is by no means useless and by no means easy. It requires a great deal of effort for an average person to reach a prowess of a professional soldier and the training regimen is likely to change who you are. But at the same time, it doesn't really change _what_ you are. You can still retire. You will have to retire eventually, as your body gets weaker with age and the scars take their toll. You are, underneath it all, just a person with some useful skills."

"Is that a bad thing? Being just a person, that is." Ruby asked, somewhat intrigued by what she was hearing.

"To the contrary. It means that you can fulfill your duty, whatever that may be, and still live a normal life when not in the uniform. This kind of training is hard and might very well be dangerous, but there are limits to both its dangers and potential gain. It requires you to push your mind are body to the limits, but it doesn't impact your soul."

"And the other kind does?"

"Yes. The kind of training I've been through is something else entirely. In my case it was huntsmen training, but it extends to all who decide to use their soul, their aura, as a means of fighting. People like that, people like me... we are different."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked. She could, of course, notice a number of ways in which huntsmen were different from regular people, but she got the feeling that Jaune wasn't only talking about all the superpowers and stuff.

"It is... really hard to explain. It's hard to even put into words. All the kids that train in my gym are, in one way or another, unusual. None of them is simply a guy or a girl that wants to become a huntsmen to earn money or because they think it's cool. These kind of people rarely manage to use their aura properly, making them unsuitable for hunting the Grimm or fighting other aura-users. Everyone with a glimmer of potential has a strong motivation to fight, be it an old trauma or a family legacy. And even that is rarely enough to become a huntsmen." Jaune paused for a moment, and then asked: "Tell me Ruby, what have you heard of Beacon?"

"Well, it is one of the schools for huntsmen and huntresses." Ruby replied, making use of her limited knowledge. "Cardin always said that the training is super tough there. That the students constantly have to fight each other and many, many Grimm." Though of course, Ruby didn't believe half of what Cardin told her. If all of that was true, it meant Beacon was run by a crazy headmaster with a habit of throwing the students off a cliff on their first day, which even she could see as ridiculous.

"Well, he didn't tell you the most important thing then. Nearly every student in Beacon, or in any other Academy for that matter, is broken. Some more, some less, but nobody is a picture of excellent mental health. Not a single one of my teammates had a happy life before coming to Beacon and neither did any other student, as far as I know. My partner was a ball of loneliness and self-doubt by the time we met and my best friend had his entire family killed by the Grimm when he was maybe half your age. If they had an actual, healthy life, they would never had though to risk their lives by fighting the creatures of darkness. Happy people don't become huntsmen."

Ruby pondered these words. She never thought about things from that perspective, but now that she was looking back at her time with Cardin, he really did _not _seem like a happy person. He lived on his own, had no contact with his family, if he had any family at all, and never seemed very interested in anything outside of fighting. Just like, as Ruby realized with worry, her current master.

"Are you like that?" She asked timidly. "Are you... broken?"

"Yes." Jaune replied bluntly, but not without a note of regret in his voice. "Maybe not as much as some are, but yes, I am broken. I was one of the few people who joined Beacon for simple reasons, for glory and renown. No noble mission on a vendetta, not even any deep desire, but simple wish fulfillment. For a good while, I was the weakest student in the entire school, my lack of motivation holding me back even more than a lack of training. But the more I fought, the more awful things I saw, the more messed up I got... the stronger I became. I unlocked my semblance when one of my friends was in mortal danger, and only because I knew how it was to lose somebody I cared about. And then I got hurt again, again... until I could finally call myself strong."

A hush fell over the hall, as neither of its occupants dared to speak a word. Ruby felt like comforting her master somehow, but she didn't have a slightest clue how to go about that.

"Sorry. I shouldn't pity myself like that." Jaune finally said. "I'm still one of the luckier huntsmen out there. And besides, we are not here to talk about me. Ruby... do you understand what I'm saying?"

"No." Ruby replied honestly. "Sorry, but it's just all confusing. Are you saying that people like you gain some sort of strength from pain? Do you, like, hurt yourself to power up in battle?"

"No, it's not like that... not quite." Jaune's expression was very troubled now. "As I said, it is hard to explain unless you are a warrior yourself. I don't know if it's just the way aura and semblances work, or if it's just that the people who have least to lose are those who fight the hardest. What I'm trying to say is... learning to fight with your soul, to become a warrior, will change you. Permanently. The moment you agree to that is the point of no return. So I ask you again Ruby – is that truly what you want?"

Ruby thought about all that, even more intensely than before. No matter how she looked at it though, insisting on learning how to fight, becoming a warrior as Jaune put it, seemed like the best choice available. For all the talk about happiness and pain, there was nothing for her to lose on that arrangement – not from the training itself, anyway. Yes, fighting itself was risky, but becoming stronger could only serve her well – she couldn't imagine how it would lead to her losing things such as bead or a shower and it would let her get closer to the only person she really cared about at the moment.

"Yes. If you can, please train me." Ruby responded with as much confidence as she could muster.

"Very well." Jaune replied, sighing quietly. "If you believe that is the best choice for you, then it really is the best choice and I will not try to persuade you otherwise."

Ruby barely stopped herself from jumping up in triumph. Meanwhile, her voice of reason wept quietly upon having failed its mission.

"But there are some things I want you to promise first." Jaune carried on. "I wish to know that you won't use whatever I teach you for the wrong purposes and for that, I will give you a set of... instructions that you must always follow. If you disagree with any of them or you think you will have to go against them at some point, tell me why you think so and I'll explain my reasons more thoroughly."

"Alright. What do you want me to promise?"

"First of all, though that should go without saying, whatever skills or powers you end up acquiring must remain secret. You don't get to show or tell _anyone_ about them unless I specifically tell you that it is safe to do so. No exceptions allowed. Do you understand."

Ruby nodded. It really did go without saying and it wasn't like she was particularly eager to get caught.

"I need to hear you say that." Jaune insisted. His voice was still stern and deadly serious.

"I promise I won't show my powers to anyone." Ruby said formally, though saying 'my powers' felt very weird. But then again, the whole situation was absurdly weird, so it was only proper.

"Secondly, I want to know that you will follow my orders to the letter while in combat. I still don't consider you my slave in anything but name, but for the safety of us both, you have to obey my instructions. This applies both to training and actual combat."

"I promise." Ruby replied. That also was pretty obvious to her – of course she would obey her master, in combat or not. It was both a proper and sane thing to do. "I will always follow your commands. If I can, that is."

"Good." Jaune nodded approvingly. "The last things is... kind of abstract, but still important. You must swear that you will not fight with the sole purpose of fighting. You can fight for your species, even using violent or lethal methods, but don't engage in violence for the sake of it. Don't fight just because you want to defeat or hurt your enemy. Do you understand?"

"Um, yes." Ruby replied. That request surprised her a little bit, but it was still perfectly fine in her books. The prospect of fighting didn't excite her, it was just means to an end. "You have my promise on that."

"Thank you." Jaune said, relaxing slightly. "Now, unless you have any last-second thoughts, we can begin training."

"You mean right now?" Ruby asked, taken completely by surprise.

"Well, consider that the first lesson." Jaune said, standing up from his seat. "You can never be sure when the battle will come to you. Same thing with training, you will not always be as prepared as you'd wish to. Now come, there is something we have to get out of the way before I can teach you anything."

Ruby obeyed, getting up from her seat and approaching her owner. She was a little bit nervous – alright, more than a little bit – but she wasn't going to back out at this point. It would not only ruin her plans, but would simply be embarrassing.

"The first step is for you to activate your aura." Jaune said, once Ruby stood before him. "You no doubt heard of it already, maybe even saw it used. It is a manifestation of a soul that every living being possesses. Energy that bears our burdens and shields our hearts. Sentient creatures can turn it into a tool, either to protect themselves or to strike at their enemies."

"Um, I thought it was like a forcefield." Ruby said, drawing from her limited knowledge of huntsmen abilities. "The one that lets your students not die during spars."

"Well, yes, it is basically a forcefield." Jaune admitted. "But there is so much more to it than that. You will understand in a second."

"Alright." Ruby nodded. "What do I do to activate it?"

"Just close your eyes and try not to think about anything." Jaune replied. "I will be the one putting an effort. Don't worry about anything, I did that before."

Obediently, Ruby closed her eyes and did her best to relax. A moment later she felt a gentle touch on her forehead. It felt warm, and not just in a usual way. Somehow, she wasn't sure how, Ruby sensed power flowing from Jaune's hand and into her own body. If there were suitable words to describe the sensation, Ruby didn't know them.

_"For it is in our passing that we achieve immortality." _Jaune began chanting, his voice seeming very distant and yet completely clear. _"Through this, we become martyrs for the glory of others, soldiers in a war without end. Selfless in sacrifice and bound by duty, I release your soul and, by my hand... place this burden upon thee."_

Something happened. A dam collapsed, a chain was broken, a dream gave place to reality. Ruby felt a surge of power, she felt stronger than ever before, but that was only an insignificant part of the sensation. Other feelings were not quite as easy to describe. It all felt surreal, like something that had no right to be experienced in the real world. It wasn't anything pleasurable, it wasn't painful, it just was.

Slowly, Ruby opened her eyes. The sight of an empty room confirmed that she was, in fact, still in the real world. Jaune still stood before her, seeming more tired than a moment ago, but otherwise normal as well. Slowly, the strange feelings left Ruby. She wasn't sure whether it should make her happy or upset. Just like the sensation wasn't simply good or bad, its passing brought her neither relief nor disappointment.

"Are you alright?" Jaune asked, causing Ruby to return to reality at once.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's just..." Ruby clenched her left fist, causing some sort of energy to flow through it. "Weird. Really weird."

"There are no good words for it, are there?" Jaune smiled and backed away a step. "Don't worry, the first time always feels strange. In time, using aura will become your second nature."

"That's cool." Ruby said. Now that her nerves calmed down, she started to realize how awesome it was that she now had some mystic energy inside her. "What can I use it for? You said it's more than forcefield, can it maybe..."

"Slow down, please." Jaune interrupted, his smile growing wider. "It's good to see that you are excited, but you have to learn the basics first."

"Right." Ruby said, now more calmly. "What are the basics, exactly?"

"That depends on the type of regimen one is going through." Jaune replied, unsheathing his sword. "Some trainers begin with teaching the basics of weaponry or tactics, but my approach is more practical in nature. Before we do anything else, I am going to teach you a basic defensive technique that will surely be useful in the future."

"Alright..." The sight of a drawn sword made Ruby somewhat nervous. "Are you going to explain that technique before I have to try it?"

"Actually, it's a very simple one, at least in principle." Jaune raised his sword and locked his eyes on the faunus in front of him. "It is called dodging."

Before Ruby got to open her mouth again, the steel blade was brought down and flew right towards her face. In that moment, even though she had achieved her goal and got what she wanted, the wolf faunus didn't feel particularly triumphant. To the contrary, all feeling of excitement and pride gave way to one, unpleasant thought.

This was going to suck.

* * *

**There. I considered making this chapter even longer, but I really liked that cliffhanger and figured it would be a decent way to end. Had I went on writing, there would be some exposition regarding other canon characters, but it appears as though it will have to wait until the next chapter.**

**Assuming I ever write the next chapter. You know me, I'm not the fastest, nor the most consistent writer ever. But I make up for this in sheer quality, right? Right?**


	6. Nothing Important

**Why the hell am I expected to write math exams in the hot classroom at noon? Is math not bad enough in of itself? Do I really have to perform calculations while I'm sweating like a sinner in a church? Why have I even chosen to study math knowing that I would hate it? Urgh.**

**Nothing to do with the chapter. Just felt a need to complain.**

* * *

After spending a little over a month with Jaune, Ruby thought she had a good grasp on what kind of person Jaune was. She didn't know everything about him, obviously, since he certainly had a few secrets hidden from her even now, but she did get to spend a lot of time with him and learn his habits. Unfortunately though, it seemed like you could never really know a person before getting to train under them.

"You call that a dodge?" Jaune said with disapproval, before launching another strike with his sword.

"I don't know what it's called!" Ruby yelled back, rolling to the side and narrowly avoiding the blade. "Can you stop hitting me and explain what's called what?"

"You have to learn it through practice." Jaune replied, swinging his sword once again. It scratched Ruby's shoulder, but she managed to absorb the blow with aura. "We went through this already."

They had. They'd been 'training' for about an hour now, during which Ruby repeatedly voiced her objections regarding Jaune's style of training. Each time he simply ignored her and carried on with his assault.

Granted, it seemed to work somewhat. Initially, Ruby didn't even attempt to avoid the blows and instead gave in to her learned instinct of curling into a ball and hoping the beating would stop. I took her mind several minutes to acknowledge that such a strategy would not work – that it was better to follow Jaune's advice and start dodging instead of taking hits.

Of course, just because Ruby started to dodge didn't mean that she was any good at it. She could avoid most of the blows, but every once in a while she simply wouldn't be fast enough to dodge the attack. Whenever that happened, all she could do was to activate her aura in hopes of absorbing the force of the strike. That too worked in most cases – using aura turned out to be pretty easy once you did that once or twice – but when it didn't, the impact was quite painful. Not as painful as some of the abuse she experienced over the course of her life, but somewhere up there. It was not the kind of training Ruby had been hoping for.

But then again, what had she been hoping for? Ruby hadn't exactly thought everything through before asking Jaune to train her. Even after he explained how important of a decision that was, she still insisted on learning how to fight, uncaring for all the warnings she got. To her credit, all these warnings were vague and abstract, to the point where she still couldn't understand them. Had Jaune told her how rough he planned to get, maybe she would have made a different choice.

Would she? Did she regret asking her owner for training? Was being useful no longer worth all this trouble?

All these thoughts made Ruby lose her focus for a moment, which as she had already learned, was an unforgivable mistake. Jaune mercifully didn't take full advantage of it – if he attacked with his sword now, it could seriously hurt the defenseless faunus – but he wasn't about to let that slide either. He threw a powerful punch which, not having been avoided or deflected, hit Ruby straight in the jaw and sent her flying across the arena. She hit the mat a second later, with another source of pain and a slight taste of blood in her mouth.

"Alright, I think we can wrap it up for today." Jaune said, sheathing his sword. "I can see you grasp the basics pretty well. Besides, you seem a little tired from all that exercise."

The last sentence was definitely an understatement. Ruby felt absolutely exhausted, and not just in a way she was used to. All that 'exercise' required her not only to use all her muscles to dodge and deflect the incoming attacks, it also meant she had to constantly pay attention to where these attacks came from, causing her to expend mental energy as well. And then there was pain from all the attacks she couldn't dodge or parry, a very unpleasant sensation that would surely persist long after that training session of hers. Because of all these things, Ruby decided that she didn't really want to stand up and instead carried on lying on the floor.

_What do you think of that deal now, moron? _Ruby's voice of reason said, more rudely than per usual. _You gained absolutely nothing, but now you get beaten just like in the old times. What is the point of staying with Jaune if he is just as brutal as your other owners?_

Except... it wasn't like the old times. Not quite. While the blows from Jaune's sword or fist were definitely painful, they were also possible to avoid. Or, at the very least, Ruby was _allowed _to avoid them. She wasn't receiving a punishment for something she did wrong, she wouldn't be beaten more if she attempted to resist. Now she was actually expected to resist in any way she could. It didn't make the blows any less painful, but it made them far less terrifying, if nothing else.

And if that was the price for not getting ever thrown out onto the street or sold off to some abusive jerk, Ruby would pay it. It was still a good trade, if not as good as she would have hoped for.

"Alright, maybe I went a little too harsh on you." Jaune said, seeing Ruby's reluctance to get up from the floor. He then walked up to her slowly. "I think I can help you with the wounds. If you want me to, that is."

Ruby simply groaned in response, as her jaw hurt way too much for her to talk comfortably. Jaune apparently saw that sound for an agreement it was, since he then knelt beside the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Aura transfer. Don't move or use aura in any way, for the sake of safety." He informed Ruby and then, true to his word, began doing... something. It was probably that aura transfer thing he'd been talking about, but a simple phrase like that didn't seem to properly describe it.

It was another one of these sensations that Ruby would not be able to describe if asked. It reminded her of the feeling she got when her aura was unlocked, but was different in several ways. Unlike the previous sensation, this one felt nice in a certain way. It was... warm? It didn't actually heat anything up, but Ruby still felt warmer. In a way. More importantly though, it numbed and slowly got rid of the pain in Ruby's body, like natural healing sped up a hundred times.

If Jaune was about to heal all the injuries he caused, maybe the training would be less awful than Ruby had feared. She would still end up feeling less pain than with any other master, in addition to getting better food and bedding. All in all, Ruby felt satisfied with the deal she had made. But still...

"Did you have to go all out like that?" Ruby complained once her jaw started working properly once more. "I mean, I don't doubt your methods work and all, but you aren't as harsh with your students at the gym. I never saw you beat them up like that."

"Because I never do." Jaune replied. "But those are different situations. My students pay me for training them and are allowed to quit whenever they want."

Ruby just stared at him.

"It wasn't supposed to sound like that." Jaune used his free hand to scratch himself on the head. "Running the gym is a business. One that I try to run honestly, but still a business. I want the kids to succeed, but I'm not going to push them so hard they will go somewhere else for training, or just lose spirit and quit. You, on the other hand, I truly want to succeed. I want you to become as strong as you can because I actually care what happens to you."

Ruby couldn't see her face at the moment, but she probably went a little red. Hearing Jaune say how he cares about her still felt a little weird, but also really nice. And the knowledge that he wanted her to _succeed _at something... for some reason, it felt even better.

"I think you'll be able to walk around without any trouble now." Jaune said once the Ruby's pain mostly faded out, presumably alongside her wounds. "Would you mind if I felt a bruise or two though?"

"Why?" Ruby asked, surprised by the question. "I mean, of course you can, but why? Is that also part of the training? Will that make me stronger somehow?"

"It won't. Some people say that pain makes you stronger, builds character or something along those lines, but that is all wishful thinking. Getting hurt does not make people any more powerful and it certainly doesn't make them better."

Well duh. Ruby wasn't sure why she even had such a stupid thought. Whenever she got beaten or hurt in some other way, she would only get more afraid and a bit more diligent. If pain made people stronger, the faunus would be the dominant species already after all the crap humans put them through.

"I meant it as a part of the performance." Jaune continued. "People have to believe me just another slave owner, one that isn't overly concerned about how his property feels. It would make sense for..."

"Let's do that then." Ruby said energetically. At this point, serving as a 'smokescreen' was still her main use and the thing that made her worth keeping around. She welcomed any chance of getting better at that and she certainly did not want to fail by exposing Jaune somehow. _That _would be an unimaginable disaster.

Jaune did not respond, not verbally at least. Instead he stopped the aura transfer and looked at Ruby with a weird, complicated expression on his face.

"Um, is there something wrong?" Ruby asked in confusion.

"No, quite the opposite." Jaune shook his head. "I'm just surprised you had the confidence to interrupt me there."

Ruby immediately froze. Jaune was right, she had interrupted him, interrupted her _master _without a good reason. Realizing what that meant, she brought her arms up and shielded her head so that the hits would deal the least damage to her...

"I didn't mean it as a bad thing!" Jaune hastily said. "I want you to feel more confident. It's not exactly polite of you, but I rather get interrupted than see you afraid like that."

Oh, right. Jaune. Outside of training, he was as soft as he had always been towards her. He wouldn't beat his slave for yelling at him, so he certainly wouldn't do this now. Ruby lowered her arms and, now that the healing stopped, slowly stood up from the floor.

"Right, sorry." She said, trying to sound apologetically, but not too servile. Her owner would not like that very much. "I'm just... still not used to it all. Not quite."

"Well, I'm just glad you're making progress." Jaune replied, standing up as well. He smiled at Ruby, though it wasn't a fully happy smile. "You seem much healthier than when I first saw you, that's for certain. If you get stronger as fast as you get braver, I'll get you into fighting shape in no time."

"When will that be though?" Ruby asked, deciding that it was a decent moment to ask a question that had been on her mind for a while now. "Me getting into this fighting shape, I mean. It cannot be very fast, right?"

"Actually, it can be quite fast." Jaune responded. "It's definitely faster than your average military training. Most combat schools train their students for four consecutive years, but that's because their programs involve some regular education as well. People can be brought up to huntsman initiate level significantly faster than that, if they have enough talent that is."

Well if talent mattered that much, that definitely bad news for Ruby. Nobody ever called her talented, and if she had any hidden talent, then it was probably not fighting. Even now she could hardly imagine herself as a fighter, let alone an exceptional one. Still, maybe she would eventually get decent at combat given enough effort.

"How long did it take you to get, you know, good enough to actually fight?" Ruby asked, hoping to find out something more specific. She figured that, considering how strong Jaune was, he must had been particularly talented and learned fighting faster than anyone else. It would be good to know the minimum time it took for someone to become a decent fighter, so that Ruby knew what she should aim towards – though she would probably look pathetic compared to her master anyway.

"Faster than the most." Jaune didn't sound particularly proud for some reason. To the contrary, he almost seemed ashamed while uttering this statement. "It took me about a year to become worthy of Beacon, but that's mostly because I had an... exceptional teacher."

"You mean your partner, right?" Ruby asked, remembering the conversation they had two weeks ago.

"Yes." Jaune replied bluntly. "She did a great job at making me stronger, or as good as she could with someone as pathetic as me."

"Why do you say that? You are absurdly strong! That's not pathetic."

"I told you Ruby, I wasn't always strong." Jaune sighed. "When I joined Beacon, I was nothing more than an idiot dreaming about glory and fame. Everyone who knew me back then could tell you that I was pathetic in every sense of the word. Pyrrha was the first person to ever see any potential in me, to ever believe I can actually achieve my dreams."

Pyrrha, huh? Ruby could swear she heard the name already, though she wasn't able to pinpoint when or where that was. Maybe Cardin mentioned the girl at one point? Still, that wasn't the most important question on Ruby's mind at the moment.

"Why are you talking about it like it was something sad?" She asked. "I mean, someone noticing you and making you stronger should be a good thing, right?"

Ruby regretted asking that question immediately, as Jaune's expression darkened upon hearing it. It became clear that a sensitive topic had been breached and Ruby did not enjoy making her owner uncomfortable. She was just about to apologize or change the subject, but before she did, Jaune resumed speaking once more.

"You are right, it was a good thing. If not for Pyrrha, I would have gotten expelled from Beacon quite quickly, or maybe even killed before the school even began. She was an excellent partner and a good friend. As we trained and fought together, we eventually became... more than friends."

Well that explained a thing or two. Ruby had no personal experience with romantic relationships and stuff, but they did tend to make people a whole lot more emotional, rarely in a good way.

"Weirdly enough, it worked for a while." Jaune continued, still seeming more than a little sad. "Pyrrha was way out of my league, but relationships are easy to form when you spend a lot of time with someone and even easier when you fight together. But they also end pretty easily. In the end I... I failed her. I failed utterly and completely."

Ruby remembered how, earlier that day, Jaune mentioned that he unlocked his semblance when one of his friends was in danger and that it was a serious event for him. As she realized just now, he hadn't said that his semblance _succeeded _at saving said friend.

"Is she..." Ruby struggled to form a question in a way that wasn't too insensitive. "...gone?"

"What? No, not like that." Jaune seemed genuinely surprised. Maybe even amused, judging from the slight curve his lips formed. "There were few things that could kill her even back when we first met, and she had only gotten stronger since then. Sometimes I think she is simply too stubborn to die. We just didn't work out in the end. I don't want to get into details, but right now, she's far away from here and utterly hates my guts."

"Are you sure?" Feeling a need to comfort her owner somehow, Ruby tried to remember the stock relationship advice she heard whenever humans talked about such things. "Are you sure that she hates you? Maybe she just got really emotional when you, um, broke up. If you came and talked to her..."

"She threatened to throw a spear at me if I ever approached her without a good reason." Jaune said bluntly.

"Oh..." Ruby deflated. So much for solving relationship problems. Now she just felt guilty for brining the topic up and then pressing it like an idiot.

Luckily, Jaune didn't seem too affected. After sighing once more, he put up a smile again and patted Ruby on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it." He said comfortingly. "It all happened a long time ago and there is no point whining about it. Especially when there are far more serious problems to solve."

Right. The reason why Jaune agreed to train Ruby was because he believed her reason was quite different from what it really was. Maybe she should act more concerned about her species' freedom and such if she wanted to keep up the deception.

"So, back to the point, how long do you think it would take me to become good enough to actually fight? You know, free the slaves and stuff? I know you don't have a concrete answer, but can you at least give me a guess?"

"I'm not sure if I can give an accurate one." Jaune replied, scratching his head. "If we manage to train regularly, you should be able to fight minor Grimm and regular combatants in a month or two. Six months until you can actually fight a group of either. But for you two fight on a professional level, to be able to even keep up with other aura users... I will take no less than two years, I'd say."

Two years until she was fully combat ready? That didn't sound so bad. Almost none of Ruby's previous owners kept her around for that long, but Jaune was different and he now had a strong interest in her. The future looked mostly neat.

"But let's focus on the present for now." Jaune said, walking over to the door. "We should go home now. The next training session will have to wait until tomorrow."

Mostly.

/-/

Ruby was standing in the gym next to her owner, waiting for the students to arrive. It felt weird to be in that damned place and not be afraid of a sword cutting her head off or a fist breaking her jaw. Almost every day for the past two weeks, she had been 'training' with Jaune, each time repeating the same regimen. She would be continuously assaulted and forced to avoid the incoming attacks until either she fell down from exhaustion, or managed to stay on her feet for over an hour. No strategy, no semblances, none of that fancy huntsman stuff, just dodging. To be fair, Ruby did become somewhat more proficient in that particular area, but it still wasn't enough to come out of such training session unscathed.

This day, however, was supposed to be different.

"So, let me get this straight." Ruby said, hoping to make sure what was actually expected of her. "You want me to see how your students fight. That's the training session for today?"

"Yes, I want you to pay attention to their moves during fights." Jaune replied casually.

"Is that really all?" Ruby kept on asking. "You are not going to have them shoot me, so that I can start learning how to dodge projectiles?"

"I'm being honest, I swear." Jaune put a palm on his chest, as though he was making some sort of vow. "I just want you to watch carefully and analyze the spars you see. I won't start shooting at you until the next Friday."

Ruby wanted to say something in protest, but then the door opened up and the first person entered the hall. Since she couldn't talk to Jaune freely in someone else's company, especially about her training, she kept her mouth shut and waited for more students to arrive.

It didn't take very long for the full group of twenty people to assemble. By now, Ruby could recognize most of them and their weapons, though she never paid much attention to any in particular. Conversely, the students were mostly used to the wolf faunus that would occasionally hang around, and so they would not bother her the way they used to back when she first arrived. Nothing stopped Ruby from doing as her master told her and paying her full attention to the fights and the weapons used during those fights.

After an obligatory period of regular, physical exercise, the teenagers began the shooting practice. Ruby tried to pay attention to their technique and how the various weapons worked, but there was only so much she could notice from a distance. The ranged weapons were hardly the same, since they all had different pipes and accessories, but there was no way to tell what all of these did just from looking at the exercise.

The spars, however, actually gave Ruby quite a bit of insight. She had seen them before, of course, but now that she had already gotten to experience being on the sharp end of the sword, she could appreciate the skill of those involved better. She could now notice the differences in how these people fought, and not just those associated with their weapons. Whereas some of Jaune's students would go in aggressively, others felt more comfortable staying on the defense before launching a counter-attack. Where some were trying to create a bit of distance between themselves and their opponent, others would do the opposite and try to close the distance instead. Some were fast, some were strong, some were both but had other weaknesses that made them beatable.

That was not to say that the weapons themselves didn't matter. They were just as diverse as the fight styles, if not more. Back when Ruby first saw all these bizarre pieces of weaponry, she marveled at how creatively they were made and how much power they carried, but she couldn't see as many subtleties as she did now. While heavier weapons such as axes were generally easier to dodge, they cause more damage once they actually hit. Smaller weapons, like daggers or small swords, were much harder to dodge, but they could be either parried or just tanked with aura. Ruby wasn't sure which one was better, or if any single option even was better than the others. Either way, it was interesting to think about.

Eventually, the training ended. The students were all tired – though not as much as Ruby was after every one of Jaune's private sessions, the things she had to endure – and so they all came downstairs to get dressed, only to leave the gym a few minutes later.

Once everything had been wrapped up and the last shooting shield was placed back in its place, Ruby was approached by her master. During the training he paid her no attention, he hadn't once checked if she was even watching the fights, but now said attention was focused solely on her.

"So, you've seen how my students fight and hopefully had a chance to analyze it. May I ask you some questions about what you just saw? Just to see if you took something out of the spectacle."

"Of course." The girl replied as she ran the memories of the fights through her head, hoping she would have the answers for whatever questions Jaune would ask her.

"Let's start with the most important question." Jaune said. "You saw how all these people fight and you probably saw a lot differences in their styles. But what are the similarities? Aside from the obvious things, like using aura or trying not to get hit, what are the principles by which everyone fights?"

Ruby pondered about the answer. Any response she could think of consisted of the obvious stuff Jaune specifically didn't want – everyone tried to avoid getting hurt, tried to hurt their opponent and used aura to some extent. But the ways they did that were so different that Ruby couldn't think of any real similarities. Whereas one person would attempt to knock their opponent out with a hammer to the head, others would try to immobilize their foe or use some weird semblance to win. Some of these methods were similar, but there was nothing that connected all of them, nothing that Ruby could see anyway.

"I... um... I give up." Ruby replied, her head lowered in defeat.

"Correct." Jaune said, earning a surprised look from his slave. "See, there simply isn't anything that all these styles have in common. Everyone fights with different tools and obeys different principles. There might be some rules most fighters obey, but even in such a small group you will find someone disobeying that rule. I once fought a guy who wouldn't even bother with weapons and instead got himself high on dust to power up, and it worked kind of well for him."

"That's doesn't sound like something for me." Ruby responded, scared that Jaune might think to teach her that particular technique. "I would much rather fight with an actual weapon. That reminds me, will I ever get a weapon for myself."

"You won't" Jaune replied, causing Ruby to deflate. "You will have to forge one yourself." He continued, causing Ruby to perk up again. "The weapons huntsmen wield are extensions of their themselves, and same applies to all other aura users. You will never reach your true potential with something manufactured or designed by someone else."

So she would eventually have to create her own weapon? That sounded quite cool, actually... though it contradicted something Ruby heard earlier.

"Didn't you say that you weapon was handed down to you?" Ruby asked, remembering the conversation she had with Jaune a while ago. "Some family heirloom or something?"

"Yes, but you shouldn't take example from me in this regard. It took me a long while to learn how to use my original set of weapons and even then I was far from my full potential. That's one of the reasons I ditched my shield. It served me well, but it just didn't fit me as well as something else could."

"I see..." Ruby considered her master's words for a second. "And what weapon do you think would suit me?"

"It's something you'll have to figure out yourself, and only once the time comes. Right now, you are getting a bit ahead of yourself." With these words, Jaune suddenly raised his arm, reached for Ruby's head and delicately ruffled her hair. It felt weird – not as weird as all that aura stuff, but still weird. The girl wasn't exactly sure if she liked it, but she wasn't about to stop Jaune either – that would be just impolite.

"Right. Um, what were the other questions?" Ruby said, trying to return to the topic.

"Well, since we are talking about weapons, I wonder if..." Jaune started, but then stopped in the middle of the sentence. The reason for that was obvious – somebody's footsteps could be clearly heard from a corridor. Not particularly heavy, but loud, as though coming from someone wearing heels.

"Crap, I forgot about that..." Jaune said, clearly troubled. "Look, can you just stay quiet for a moment? Play your role, look cowed and keep your eyes down. I have someone important to talk with."

"Alright..." Ruby replied, backing away into the corner. She could easily play the role of a scared and timid slave, especially since the seriousness in Jaune's tone of voice really did make her somewhat scared. She would just keep quiet and try to avoid stepping on anyone's toe.

A second later, the door opened once more, paving the way for a grown woman to enter the hall. She was very tall, even accounting for the heels, wore a pair of glasses and had light-blonde hair tied in a bun behind her back. She looked to be around forty years old, if Ruby were to guess her age from the appearance alone. Her clothing was similar to Blake's in that it was mostly black and white and was also very weird. Seriously, how did you even describe that? In fact, this set of clothing was even weirder than Blake's, because it included a long, strangely cut cape. Although Ruby had to admit, that cape looked really cool as it was flowing in the air...

"Good afternoon, Miss Goodwitch." Jaune welcomed the woman, bowing slightly.

"It is good to see you, Jaune." The woman responded, walking up to the young man. "I'm sorry if I made you wait, but I wanted to make sure all your students had already left. At least, I presumed they left..." The woman's eyes settled on Ruby, causing the faunus to shift her eyes straight towards the ground.

"That's my new slave. Just ignore her." Jaune said, probably shrugging. Ruby was too concentrated on the floor to see.

"I see." Miss Goodwitch said slowly. "I also see that you weren't exactly gentle with her, were you?"

Ruby shifted nervously in place. What was that woman talking about? Did she know about... no, she must have seen the bruises and assumed it was from a regular, non-combat beating. Points to Jaune for his sense of foresight.

"Actually, I think I was." Jaune replied nonchalantly. "It's not like I beat her without a reason. If she won't do as I say, she can only blame herself for getting punished. If anything, she should be grateful that she isn't wasting away in a mine somewhere."

"I suppose I won't change your mind in that regard." The blond woman sighed. "But maybe you would consider changing your disposition for practical reasons, so that the girl doesn't end up as your previous slave."

There was a moment of silence during which the two blondes certainly stared into each other's eyes. Ruby didn't see it, as her eyes were still diligently observing the floor.

"You have a point." Jaune finally admitted. "Before I get home, I'll buy Ruby a ball to play with or something like that. Now, can we get to the topic please?"

"Very well. I'd like to know how your students are progressing and whether any of them expressed an intention of joining Beacon in the future."

"Any of them?" Jaune snorted. "Almost every one of them wants to become a huntsmen and about a half of them is planning to join specifically Beacon. As for who can actually make the cut... I'm thinking Grayson and Clearwater. Others would have to step up their game to reach that level in time."

"Could you speed up the training process? I am not telling you how to run your gym, but fresh huntsmen are always valuable."

"I realize that, but I don't think I can do much. More things had been popping up recently and I think I'll struggle to keep up the current pace of training. I certainly won't be able to afford working more hours."

"I see." Miss Goodwitch replied, slight disappointment audible in her voice. "Regardless, thank you for the insight. It is better that I know who I should expect."

"I am happy to help. Speaking of, how are things going at Beacon?"

"They are..." The woman hesitated. "Going decently, I would say. I am not as good at managing the school as Professor Ozpin was, but I'm managing."

"It is good to hear that." Jaune said and then paused for a second. "Now, I'm not sure how to put it tactfully, but do you have any information for me?"

"Indeed. I have just returned from Mistral two days ago." Miss Goodwitch replied. "You will probably be relieved to hear that Ren and Nora are safe and well in Kuroyuri. They probably wouldn't mind if you visited them sometime. As for Pyrrha..." The woman paused for a moment, as though unsure how to phrase the next sentence. "She is not quite as eager to see you, but she is healthy and safe as well."

"Thank you for informing me about that." Ruby had no doubt that there was a sad expression on Jaune's face at the moment. "But... that's not quite what I was asking for."

"Jaune, I think you know the answer." Miss Goodwitch sighed once more. "I normally wouldn't feel comfortable discussing such matters openly, but in this case, there is really nothing to discuss. No abnormal activity had been detected for several years now and I highly doubt it will change any time soon."

"You seem a little bit too happy with that state of affairs." Jaune threw an accusation. "No news is really the worst news in our situation. To interpret lack of data differently seems overly optimistic in my books."

"I don't think I'm being too optimistic. Only logical. Either our enemy operates flawlessly from the shadows, or you are simply being paranoid right now."

"Firstly, those two options are not mutually exclusive. You can be paranoid, but still correct." Jaune pointed out. "More importantly though, there is no reason to assume the most optimistic scenario. We cannot account for the position of any maiden right now. For all we know, she might have already collected all four and..."

"Had she done that, we would all be dead by now!" Miss Goodwitch interrupted, her voice raised for the first time during the conversation.

"Well I'm sorry for trying to prevent something like that!" Jaune shouted back, visibly exasperated. It was the first time Ruby heard him seriously yell and, in her subjective opinion, it was kind of scary.

The silence that followed was every bit as dense as the last one, but for different reasons. Ruby didn't know what those reasons were, since she failed to understand a single thing that had just been said, but it seemed far more serious than the last argument. Ruby raised her eyes just enough so that she could see the signs of a fight breaking out.

Luckily, there was no fight incoming. The two blondes stared at each other for a few seconds, but neither of them did anything impulsive. They just stood there for a moment, both slowly relaxing.

"I'm sorry, I can understand your concern." The woman said, this time more calmly. "But there is simply no information I can give you. Things are as calm out there as they ever were and Grimm remain the worst danger humans have to deal with."

"I hope you are right. I really do." Jaune sighed. "But please, keep me informed. If you turn out to be wrong, I want to be prepared for what comes next."

"If you ask me, you seem decently prepared. You certainly have the right weapon for the task."

"It's not..." For some reason, Jaune appeared lost for words, if only for a moment. "Look, can we talk about it sometime else?"

"Certainly. I'm afraid I said too much as it stands. Such is the prize of getting oneself lost in emotion."

"A little bit, yes." Jaune smiled. "I will welcome you any time to discuss things in detail."

"I shall look forward to seeing you again, Jaune." Miss Goodwitch replied and then turned around to face the door again. "Try not to get yourself killed until then."

"I'll do my best." Jaune replied quietly, as the woman exited the room. Cape kept flowing in the air behind her as she disappeared in the corridor, leaving Jaune and Ruby alone in the hall once more.

The silence that followed was awkward. Maybe not as awkward as the first silence between Jaune and Miss Goodwitch, and definitely less awkward than the second one, but still kind of unpleasant.

"So..." Ruby started. "Who was that, exactly?"

"That was Glynda Goodwitch, the current headmistress of Beacon Academy and my former teacher." Jaune explained. "She comes around once in a while to ask whether some of my students seem capable of joining her school one day, as well as to talk about... other stuff."

"Um, may I ask, what is that whole other stuff? I didn't understand a word of what you were just saying."

"Professional business." Jaune replied, casually waving a hand. "Nothing really important."

"She mentioned something about everyone dying." Ruby pointed out. "That seems kind of important. Does it have anything to do with, you know, White Fang and this whole faunus libration thing?"

"I think you mean liberation. But no, Glynda is unaware of my affiliation with the White Fang. The matters we've been discussing are something completely separate from my activities as a rebel."

"Huntsmen business, then?" Ruby asked. All that talk about facing a hidden enemy didn't sound like anything connected with hunting Grimm, but then again, what did she know? Maybe that was the sort of stuff huntsmen dealt with regularly.

"You can say so, I suppose. But enough talking." Jaune approached the door as well. "Let us go home. I am pretty hungry and bet you are as well."

Truth be told, Ruby didn't feel very hungry, since she had a good breakfast and didn't get to expand much effort during the day, but she wouldn't say no to a fresh meal. She nodded in agreement and then followed Jaune through the door and then out of the building.

As they entered the car, Ruby wondered whether she should or should not be concerned about all the weird stuff Jaune was apparently involved with. It sounded dangerous and bizarre, perhaps even more bizarre than the whole White Fang thing, but it didn't sound like anything that would concern Ruby directly. If her master ever decided to tell her more about that particular subject, she would listen; Until then, she had no intention of pressing him to tell her.

There was, however, one thing that needed to be discussed...

"Um, Jaune?" Ruby said once the car had been turned on. She still felt somewhat uncomfortable referring to her master by his first name, but since Jaune appreciated it, she usually did just that.

"What's the matter?" Ruby's owner responded, looking at her questioningly.

"I want to ask you about that other thing you said... about how you would buy me a ball to play with. Is that right?"

"Oh, that." Jaune sighed. "Ruby, I'm sorry. I have to act as though I have no respect for the faunus, including you. That's all just a part of the performance, I swear. I don't think of you as a pet that should be given stupid toys to play."

"No, I understand. You are performing really well." Ruby assured her owner. "It's just... are you going to follow through?"

"Excuse me?" Jaune's facial expression switched to 'confused' in an instant.

"Well, if you are going to do this whole deception thing, you may as well make it consistent." Ruby carried on. "Otherwise, someone might notice you don't actually intend to treat me as a pet, and then the whole smokescreen will just collapse, you know?"

"I see." Jaune said slowly. "So you actually want me to buy you a toy ball?"

"Yeah, why not?" Ruby shrugged. "We might even play fetch or something, you know, for the extra immersion."

"Just for the sake of the performance?" Jaune asked with one of his eyebrows raised high.

"Yes." Ruby nodded, her face blank and serious. "I will gladly do my part in maintaining the cover."

"Well, I applaud your dedication." Jaune responded, while taking a turn towards the city centre.

"Thank you." Ruby replied briefly.

For the next half an hour, neither of them would say a single word.

* * *

**Even more cryptic conversations, even more confusion and some good old pronoun game. I've got to say, I enjoy writing a story when not every information is openly given to the reader. It makes me feel as though my writing is somehow clever, even though cleverness and clarity have very little to do with each other.**

**Regardless, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Any complaints go in the reviews – as always, I will appreciate any sort of feedback.**


	7. Secondary Objectives

Ruby fell flat on the ground, instinctively using aura to block any damage such an abrupt impact could have caused. Without wasting another second she rolled sideways, just in time to avoid a bullet which slammed into the floor instead. Knowing she would be more vulnerable lied down, the faunus quickly shot up, getting back on her feet in less of a second.

Unfortunately, there was another bullet flying right towards her. Knowing she wouldn't be able to duck again, Ruby jumped aside instead, taking a necessary risk to avoid the projectile slamming into her. It paid off, as she was able to avoid the shot – if barely – and land on her feet a moment afterwards, ready to perform another dodge.

Fortunately, she didn't have to. As Jaune pressed the trigger of a rifle, it only made a quiet sound and failed to eject anything from its pipe. The huntsman shrugged and then put the weapon down on a nearby crate.

"Congratulations." He said with a slight smile on his face. "You got me to run out of bullets and you only got hit twice through it all."

"Well I wouldn't count the second time." Ruby replied, hoping to earn more generous praise. "It was more of a scratch than anything."

"You shouldn't think about hits as you would of injuries." Jaune replied, his expression getting slightly more firm. "Yes, this shot wouldn't damage you too much had you failed to block it. But you had, and you lost a bit of your aura while doing so. More importantly, you lost your balance, which would make this moment a perfect place for me to attack you directly if we were fighting for real."

"Oh right. Sorry..." Ruby hang her head, ashamed of having forgotten one of Jaune's lessons.

"Hey, you heard me." Jaune approached his student and then put a hand on her shoulder. "You are doing well. Better than I hoped you would do. It takes a lot longer for most people to learn how to dodge bullets with that success rate."

Ruby could feel her face getting red upon hearing those words. She still didn't enjoy the training, not with how brutal it could get, but hearing her master praise her like that made it feel rewarding even disregarding its main purpose.

"So, do you think I will progress faster than you thought?" Ruby asked. "You said it would take me, what, six months until I can fight a lot of people at once? Does that still hold up?"

"It's hard to say. You are exceptionally agile, that's for sure, but actual combat takes a lot more than that. I still don't know how good you will be with your weapon, or how far can you push your aura, or when you will unlock your semblance... there are a lot of things to cover."

"Um, alright. So how about we move on to these things?" Ruby requested. "It would be good to at least see if I'm any good at them, right?"

"I wouldn't rush things in this manner. I would rather have you develop gradually, one important skill after another. Although..." Jaune paused here for a moment. "I might have a way of boosting your progress."

"You do? What is it?" Ruby asked anxiously.

"Easy there. It's not some magical booster or a shortcut. I simply thought you could learn something if you accompanied me on my next mission."

Ruby's enthusiasm fell drastically. She almost forgot that there was a reason Jaune was training her – so that she could help him fight his silly war. She knew she would have to do some fighting at some point, but she didn't expect that moment to come so quickly…

"You want me to help you on your mission?" Ruby asked, this time nervously. "Didn't you say I'm not ready for combat?"

"I want you to _accompany_ me." Jaune replied. "I don't expect you to fight, not in any meaningful sense of the word. I will handle the combat and I won't ask you for any help related to fighting. How does that sound?"

"I suppose that makes sense…" Ruby replied, before reminding herself that she is supposed to show more enthusiasm regarding the whole 'free the faunus' thing. "So, what is the mission? You said you will handle all the fighting. Does that mean there will be no White Fang there?"

"Precisely. It's not one of those raids that require a small army to pull off. Just you and me, in the middle of the night, in one of the nicer areas of the town." Jaune paused for a second. "Well, there will be some hostiles and the area won't be quite as nice once we're done with it, but that's beside the point. What I'm trying to say, the mission is not particularly hard or dangerous, not compared to other things I do regularly."

"Well then, I will be happy to, um, accompany you." Ruby did her best to keep her voice enthusiastic, even though she didn't found her master's words particularly reassuring. What exactly did he consider to be 'not particularly hard or dangerous'? What exactly was a chance of dying on such a mission, if you were an inexperienced wolf faunus?

"Well then, make sure to catch some sleep. I'm planning to depart tomorrow right after dusk. If you change your mind before then, tell me as quickly as possible. I would hate to change my plans at the last minute, though I won't force you into anything either."

Ruby nodded in response, fairly sure that she wouldn't be changing her mind. Whether the mission was truly dangerous or not, she would not risk annoying her owner. Besides, refusing to accompany him would make her look like a coward and thus less useful.

Ruby couldn't afford that. Even if she was something of a coward, she had to be useful.

"I understand." The wolf faunus said. "Is there anything you want me to do before then?"

"Not really, I don't think you need to do anything to prepare…. Although I would like you to clean up the floor, if possible."

Ruby looked around. After their training session, the floor was covered in hundreds of bullet shells of all calibers, as well as a some arrows and crossbow bolts. Jaune wanted to make sure his student would be able to dodge all sorts of projectiles, and that meant _all _kinds.

"Of course." Ruby responded, squashing the instinct to bow politely. Not acting submissively all the time was getting gradually easier, but old habits really did die hard.

"Thank you." Jaune nodded. "I will put the gun back on its place and then wait for you outside." With these words, Jaune grabbed his weapon and headed for the back room, leaving Ruby alone in the hall.

Sighing loudly, Ruby dropped down to her knees and began picking up the shells. It felt somewhat relaxing, being able to engage in a simple and repetitive task without any risks or tough decisions involved. After all the lessons and training Jaune put her through, Ruby appreciated an occasional simple task. She could prove her worth not by risking her life or pushing herself to the limit, but simply through obeying a straight-forward order. Her master told her to do something, and so she would do it. It was amazingly simple.

Would things be just as simple the next night?

/-/

"I don't understand any of it." Ruby confidently said. She and Jaune were once again in the gym, late in the evening, discussing their plans for the near future. Plans which she, unfortunately, couldn't quite grasp the meaning of.

"The plan seems fairly straight-forward to me." Jaune retorted. "We already have our target located and they are likely unsuspecting of our assault. With a surgical strike we might be able to eliminate the boss right away, rendering all their forces incapable of… you don't understand anything I'm saying, do you?"

Ruby shook her head sadly.

"Alright, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I have a habit of getting a little… technical when it comes to strategy." Jaune made an understatement of the year. "And to be fair, you don't need to know all the specifics. The point is, we are about to attack a nightclub, beat up everyone with a weapon, scare off everyone without a weapon and free any faunus slaves we find there. Is that clear enough?"

"Not really. I mean, I understand what you're saying, it's just…" Ruby struggled to put her worries into words. "Is that really worth the effort? I feel sorry for the slaves there and all, but won't they just get captured and after we free them? And then killed horribly?"

"I admire your foresight, but no, I don't think they will." Jaune replied. "Contrary to what you might have been told, evading capture is perfectly possible unless you have some markings you cannot hide. I heard of a chameleon faunus who snuck into one of Atlesian combat schools. She looked no different from a human when she wasn't using camouflage, so she was able to remain hidden for years."

"Well, I guess it is possible to hide like that." Ruby said, but then she realized a crucial detail. "Wait, what happened to that girl afterwards? Since you heard she was a faunus, does that mean she got found out?"

"Well, yes." Jaune scratched his head. "She got emotional this one time, which triggered her skin to change colors suddenly."

"And?" Ruby urged her owner to continue.

"Other students saw that and alarmed the authorities. Then they captured her, put her on trial and, um… tore her skin off for the sake of irony. I think she passed out quickly though, so she didn't feel most of it."

Ruby stared at her master blankly.

"Look, it's an extreme example." Jaune said hurriedly. "Most times, getting captured isn't a death sentence. For all the threats you might have heard, few masters will go as far as to execute the runaways, but would rather brand them with hot iron or sell them off to somewhere unpleasant."

"Um, that still doesn't sound fun." Ruby pointed out. "What if they all end up getting sent to Schnee mines and die next month from exhaustion?"

"That particular scenario I think I can prevent. I have a friend in a… managerial position of the Schnee Dust Company and I am willing to pull some strings to make sure people don't die there because of me. And besides, I picked the date specifically to make the escape easier."

"Oh right. You mean all that humans going around dressed like Grimm and other strange things?"

"It's called Halloween. But yes, it should make a singular person, even a faunus, basically untraceable during the night. All the advantages of a crowdy day and a dark night combined."

"That makes sense, I guess." Ruby admitted. "So, what exactly do you want me to do?"

"First of all, I would like you to put on a combat attire." Jaune said, walking over to a nearby chest. "I've got something prepared for you and I think it will fit just fine."

A moment later, Jaune threw Ruby some bundled clothes. They were mostly black, which made sense considering they were about to sneak around during nighttime. He then also threw here pair of shoes, which were also black, save for the red-colored soles.

"I couldn't take you shopping with me, as that would be way too suspicious." He explained. "I assure you though, the quality leaves little to be desired. Elastic, bulletproof and comfortable, though I only have the vender's word on the last one."

"Alright, I'll put this on. Just give me a second." Ruby put her new suit on the floor and began undressing. Before she even got to take off her shirt, she heard a loud cough coming from her master. "Um, is there a problem?"

"Ruby… do you feel comfortable undressing next to me like that?" Jaune asked, his face slightly red. "Or around any other person, for that matter? Isn't that a bit too intimate?"

"Well, you promised you wouldn't hurt me." Ruby shrugged. "I trust you on that one."

"Um, thank you, but don't you think that's a little weird?"

"Maybe." Ruby shrugged again. "So what? Do _you _feel uncomfortable? Do you think I'm too disgusting to look at without clothes on?"

"No! I don't think you're disgusting. Really, I think you are rather pretty… but don't take that the wrong way, I would never take advantage of you like that… but not because you are disgusting, because you're not…" Jaune kept stuttering. "Like, do you really fail to see the problem here?"

Ruby tilted her head, confused by her master's ramblings. She never saw anything weird with changing clothes in front of other people – in places like slave barracks it was the only way to do it. No faunus she knew ever minded that. "No, not really. Why would I mind you looking at me, if it's not going to make you do anything bad to me?"

"Don't you think it would be…" Jaune clearly struggled to pick the suitable words. "Violation of your privacy and intimacy?"

Ruby stared at her owner for a moment. She then blinked. Then she continued staring.

"You know, forget about that. I'll just stare at the wall." Jaune said and quickly proved himself true to his words, turning towards the wall opposite of Ruby.

"Okay." Ruby decided there was no point in arguing further and just started changing her clothes again. She tried to be quick, so that Jaune wouldn't be bothered for too long, though putting that weird outfit on was kind of difficult.

After about two minutes, Ruby was wearing a black dress with red trim on the sleeves and around the skirt. Said skirt seemed well suited for her, since it was long enough to cover her tail but not enough to limit her movements. That same couldn't be said about the thick stockings, which felt somewhat uncomfortable with how tight they were. Still, Ruby figured it wouldn't impede her too much, especially if she wasn't supposed to do any actual fighting this night.

"This feels… kind of weird." Ruby commented. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but is this how all huntsmen dress?"

"No, it's how all _huntresses_ dress. And by that I mean they usually put on the weirdest outfits they can find. I picked that one because black fits into the White Fang color scheme, and I figured it would match your hair too. If you don't like it we can find something else later, but trust me, you don't look any weirder than most girls in Beacon." The huntsman opened the chest and, after a few moments of searching through its content, pulled out some white item. "Except maybe for that. The most important part of the whole outfit."

With these words, Jaune threw Ruby some item which she then caught. It appeared to be a mask of sorts, made out of one piece of white material, with slits to enable seeing. It reminded Ruby of the pictured of the Grimm she once saw – those monsters also had their faces covered by white masks.

"I guess I should cover my face somehow." Ruby replied as she rotated the mask, hoping to get a good look from all sides. "Won't it make it harder for me to see though?"

"Not really. The slits are designed as to not limit your vision, at least not horizontally. You will be able to see just fine, while other people won't be able to see your eyes. Adam does think of everything when it comes to combat."

"Adam… was that the guy you and Blake talked about back then?" Ruby asked. "Your friend in the White Fang or something?"

"I wouldn't call him a friend." Jaune grimaced slightly. "More like a coworker. Maybe an ally, though not always. Actually, 'something' seems to describe him rather well."

"You don't get along?"

"We don't see eye to eye, no." Jaune sighed. "I can tell you about that later. Now let's focus on the mission at hand, shall we?"

"Right. Sorry." Ruby replied and then put on the mask. It didn't feel very comfortable with how it pressed against her skin, but just as Jaune said, it didn't really obstruct her vision and probably wouldn't cause any problems in combat. "How do I look?"

"I say it fits you pretty well. If you were a foot taller, you'd be pretty scary."

"Um, thanks. Will you wear a mask too?"

"Of course. I wasn't planning on putting it on since right before the raid, but since you might need a while to get used to it…" Jaune pulled out yet another mask from the box. This one was larger than Ruby's, and once put on, it covered Jaune's entire face. "I am more recognizable, so I have to be extra careful."

"What weapons will you take?" Ruby asked. "I mean, won't they recognize you if you go with your usual set?"

"I usually fight with just a sword." As to emphasize his point, Jaune walked up to a weapon stand and picked up his weapon. "It has a long history to it, but to anyone who sees it, it's just a regular blade. I will also take a shotgun, just in case we need a ranged option."

"And I'm not taking anything, right?" Ruby asked, just to clarify. "You said you don't expect me to fight, just be there and watch how it's done."

"Right." Jaune nodded. "Though actually… I think I have a task for you. Do not worry, it is rather simple and not dangerous in the slightest. Just something I don't want to do myself for the sake of time efficiency."

"Alright, what is it?" Ruby asked.

"Say, have you ever had to paint anything?"

/-/

The sun was already long gone, replaced with a cracked moon that provided just enough light for the pedestrians to see the road in front of them. There were quite a few humans on the street – some of them were just people with night jobs or some other, practical reason to roam around at night, while others were celebrating their strange holiday. People in strange costumes – mostly children, but there were some adults as well – walked the curbs in small groups, not paying much attention to two people in strange masks and with a whole lot of dangerous equipment they were about to use.

Initially, Ruby was worried that someone would spot them and alarm authorities, but once she voiced that worry to Jaune, he explained precisely why that wouldn't be a problem. Most people were completely uncaring for anything that didn't concern them in person and would either not notice the masked figures passing them by, or just assume their suits were just strange costumes and move on. Even if someone did call the police, it would take time for the authorities to take action, assuming they even bothered. Ruby and Jaune would only catch attention after their mission was done.

True to his word, Jaune took his sword and a shotgun as his weapons. He was dressed in a military jacket, but one painted white with some red strips on the back and wore dark, baggy pants. Supposedly, that was the way White Fang agents were supposed to dress – the combinations of black, white and red, to emulate Grimm and strike fear into the hearts of their enemies, or something along these lines. Only the bundle of blond hair at the top of his head reminded Ruby that yes, this was still Jaune walking alongside her.

Ruby stuck to the black and red outfit she was brought and carried only a small backpack. Inside it was the spare mask – just in case the one she wore broke – as well as a canister of paint and a brush to spread that paint. Those were the only things she needed, or at least that's what she'd been told.

As she walked through the darkness, Ruby tried to ignore her voice of reason as it yelled at her about how stupid she was being and how she got herself into unnecessary danger. She told herself how taking this kind of risks was necessary in the long run and how it wasn't really that much of a risk with Jaune around… though the closer they got to their destination, the harder justifying her decisions got.

Now that the danger wasn't something abstract anymore, but instead approached quickly, Ruby realized just how much crap she got herself into. She only decided to follow Jaune to battle out of fear of what would happen if he found her useless. It seemed perfectly reasonable back then, because the idea of being separated from her current owner and dumped gods knew where seemed like something she needed to avoid at all cost. But those fears now felt distant and vague, while the fear of getting shot within the next hour seemed very, very real. Had she made the right choice after all? Even if there really was a risk of Jaune abandoning her, was that really worse than the risk of getting seriously injured or killed?

But then again, was there any point in wondering? As Jaune had told her a while ago, she had passed the point of no return. With her aura unlocked, she was destined to be a fighter, or at least that's what her master believed. She made her choice a while ago, all she could do was to carry on.

Ruby snapped out of her musing upon seeing Jaune stop in his tracks. They have reached an old-looking apartment block which, apparently, made for their chosen target.

"Is that the place?" Ruby asked. "Didn't you say we are attacking, what, a night club?"

"Indeed." Jaune replied through the mask. "It might not look impressive from outside, but there is quite a big complex down below. There will be some faunus serving the guests and I bet some of them aren't happy with their lot in life. That's where we come in."

"But it's not as simple as just freeing the slaves and beating the humans up, is it? You mentioned taking out the boss, or something like that."

"I happen to know a man who runs the establishment. He isn't just an owner of the club, he rules it. If we want to get anything done, we have to capture him and have him gather the slaves so we can tell them how to flee and break whatever restraints they have."

"Do we?" Ruby asked. "Why is the guy so important? We are releasing slaves from his control. If they won't do anything without him ordering them, they might not want…"

"Don't worry about it." Jaune said, suddenly sounding more stern than usual. "I know what I'm doing. Focus on your task instead."

"Of course." Jaune's tone made it really hard for Ruby not to bow out of instinct, but it seemed really out of place on a mission like that, so she simply nodded instead. "Sorry for asking."

"No harm done. But really, keep your focus. And remember, you are not allowed to say my name out loud. Or title me master for that matter, that might tip somebody off. Just go with 'sir', if you ever need to address me."

"Got it." Ruby nodded once more.

"Good. Now go, it's time to get down to business." With these words, Jaune approached and then passed through the entrance door. Ruby followed closely behind.

The interior really did look better than the outside. Upon entering the building, Jaune and Ruby found themselves in a nicely decorated hallway, which apparently served as an entrance to the club proper. There was a small line of people standing on a bright-red carpet and waiting to be processed. Two large men, wearing dark suits and sunglasses, stood next to the turnstile and talked to one of the people who wished to get inside. They apparently in charge of checking who was allowed to enter the club, and who should be turned away.

Jaune wasn't about to ask for permission or wait politely in a line. He instead marched into the middle of a room, pulled out his shotgun and fired a shell into the ceiling. The sound of the blast in such a small room was loud enough to make Ruby jump slightly and to make all the visitors fall onto the ground. The two bouncers froze in their places instead – either they weren't sure what to do, or they didn't have the guts to do it. After a second, one of them reached towards his belt, presumably for whatever weapon he had prepared.

Naturally, he didn't get to draw it. Within a fraction of a second, Jaune leaped towards the bouncer and swung a shotgun at his head, as though he was wielding a baseball bat. The strike was wide and Ruby thought she would be able to dodge it had it been aimed at her. The large man apparently lacked skill in that basic defensive technique, as the gun hit him straight in the temple, toppling him to the ground and probably knocking him out. Within the same move, Jaune pointed his shotgun towards the other man, who in response simply raised his hands into the air and walked back a step.

"I'm giving you a chance to leave unharmed." Jaune said, his voice lower than usually. "If you want to stay alive, leave this place as fast as you can. If you follow us inside, I will take that as an attack. Understood?"

"Um, yes… yes sir." Despite his imposing posture, the man in the suit seemed pretty unthreatening now. Seeing his friend get taken out within two seconds probably didn't do wonders for his confidence.

"Good. And drag this one out of here." Jaune kicked the unconscious body to specify who he was talking about. "There will be lot of people running out through all exits in a moment. Wouldn't want him trampled to death."

The bouncer nodded, seemingly too scared to reply verbally. Other humans in the room showed even less bravery – all of them simply lied flatly on the floor, hoping that the man with a gun wouldn't pay them any attention.

Luckily for them, it worked. After he was finished dealing with the bouncers, Jaune walked through the turnstile, gesturing for Ruby to follow him. The wolf faunus obliged, walking through the room and towards the entrance. As she passed the lying civilians, some of them shook slightly, and as she walked past the bouncer he gave her a fearful, almost terrified look, as though he expected her to pull out a gun and shoot him on her way inside.

It felt weird. Really weird. The only creature to ever be scared of Ruby were stray cats and maybe that one dog that barked at her more than a confident animal would. Of course, these people had reasons to assume Ruby was dangerous, as she had a very dangerous company, but… really? Grimm mask or not, she was still short and scrawny faunus girl. How could anyone be afraid of her like that?

Ruby forced herself to focus on her surroundings as she entered the club proper. After they passed through the turnstile, she and Jaune found themselves in a large hall filled with people – mostly young, though there weren't any kids – either dancing on the glass parquet or sitting and drinking on the stools. Music was playing very loudly and colorful lights were flashing from a big glass ball handing from the ceiling, so hardly anyone took notice of two strange guests who just entered the hall.

Jaune apparently felt a need to change that. He pointed his shotgun towards one of the speakers and them fired a shot, silencing the device immediately. That had some people pay attention, but only after Jaune repeated the process with another speaker did the panic really take off. Screams could be heard from all around the hall, the music suddenly stopped playing completely and some people started to run towards whatever exit was the nearest.

Seeing that he successfully announced his presence, Jaune calmly reloaded his gun and put it back into its sheath. It was sort of weird to see someone be so calm amidst all the panic, but then again, nobody dared approach the armed man in a Grimm mask after he just started shooting. After about half a minute, most humans were gone, save for those who decided to take their chances curling up on the floor or hiding behind some makeshift cover.

Once again, Ruby found herself surprised at seeing so many humans thrown into panic so easily. It wasn't really anything strange, since they had good reasons to feel scared, but she never thought of humans as so… timid.

"Don't just lay there!" A voice carried through the hall, piercing through all the noise. It belonged to an almost freakishly tall, bearded men, who walked through the chaos seemingly unconcerned for potential danger. He wore a black vest over a white dress shirt, had a red tie hanged from his neck and carried a strange-looking club in his right hand. That last one, alongside with how nonchalantly he acted, made Ruby guess he was an aura-user, though there was no telling how experienced he was. "Get out of here! If he wanted to kill you, he would have done so already. You'll just get caught in a crossfire if you stay here."

"Such a concern for your customers." Jaune commented, walking towards the giant. "How professional. How noble."

"You stop right here." The man barked, to which Jaune surprisingly obliged. "What are you looking for?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Jaune asked, pointing towards his mask. "I'm here with an inspection. I want to make sure all your employees are getting paid and are free to leave at any moment, such as this one for example."

"Are you really willing to take such a risk for some useless animals?" The tall man shook his head. "That is just crazy. Do you even know who I am?"

"Certainly. Hei Xiong, also known as Junior. You run one of the best supplied information networks in Vale, as well as one of its most popular night clubs."

"And one of the best defended ones." The man, Junior as he was called, said confidently. Sure enough, just a moment later a lot of similarly-dressed men began to arrive on the parquet. They were all large, muscular and in suits, but unlike the bouncers they didn't appear particularly scared of Jaune or Ruby. They had different weapons too – instead of batons they all had sort swords ready to be used at any moment. They formed a semi-circle around Jaune and Ruby, cutting off their potential escape route.

"That's a lot of people who will soon be dead." Jaune said neutrally.

"You are bluffing." Junior replied. "It seems as though you want to limit casualties here. I don't know why a mad animal like you would care about that, but you do. Out of gratitude for that, I will allow you to leave now and have only the police chase after you."

"You insult me, and then offer me a chance to leave peacefully. You aren't really counting on me taking that offer, do you? You are trying to achieve something else, maybe simply…"

Suddenly, Jaune paused. In the exact same moment, two other people entered the parquet, though they were distinctly different from the rest of the bunch. Two teenage girls, both only slightly taller than Ruby and with similar black hair and pale skin tone. They would look basically identical if not for their haircuts – one of them had her hair cut much shorter than the other one – and, more visibly, their clothing. They both wore dresses, but one of them was crimson read while the other one was white with some blue lining. The red one also had an interesting feature in the form of large claws coming out of her gauntlets. A month or two ago, Ruby would think that another weird human fashion choice, but now she knew that the claws were probably very deadly, and so were the two girls themselves.

Both women calmly walked towards the circle and took positions near Junior. With other two combatants at his side, the owner of the bar now looked even more confident than before. "I retract my generous offer." He said, still looking at Jaune. "But if you surrender now, I promise to give you a quick death. I won't torture you for information like the police would, so you won't have to worry about putting other mad animals in danger."

"I don't think he will accept, Junior." The girl in red said. "He is determined to fight, I can see it."

"The girl seems less eager to fight." The other girl pointed out, pointing a finger at Ruby. "Hey little one, you don't want to die here, do you? If you give up right now, I'm sure we can talk things out."

"Shut up." Ruby replied. She felt a need to say something in response, but couldn't think of anything better.

"Why so aggressive?" The girl in white almost sounded genuinely offended. "We can even get you a nice job here. We'll have to punish you for breaking in first, of course, but we won't be too harsh. A moderate lashing will do the trick, I think."

Ruby wasn't sure what scared her more – the offer she'd been just given, or the fact that she seriously considered it for a moment. She had been nervous for a while now, but with all these armed people surrounding her, she was becoming really terrified.

"Enough of this." Jaune growled, now audibly angered. "You will call off your men and women and then summon all your slaves here. That's the last time I'm asking politely."

"Militia, Melanie, get him." Junior said, to which the two girls nodded. "The rest should try to catch the girl. She might be worth something after all."

"Um, what do we do now?" Ruby asked, seeing her master unsheathe his sword and the two girls tense for combat. "Should I run away or…"

"You heard the man." Jaune replied, grasping his sword tightly. "I'll take care of the girls, you just don't let yourself get captured."

"What?!" Ruby asked exasperated, but before she added something to the effect of 'that wasn't in the plan' Jaune was already gone.

The huntsman lunged at the long-haired girl with his sword, a strike which she barely managed to dodge with a jump to the side. In response she kicked Jaune with her heel – which seemed unusually sharp – while the other girl swung her claws at the masked man. Jaune absorbed the kick unflinchingly and raised his sword to block the claw strike instead, after which he punched the girl in the jaw with his free hand, sending her flying backwards.

Sadly, Ruby couldn't watch this display any further, as she had her own problems to deal with. About eight armed men were running towards her from all sides, each one with a deadly-looking sword in hand. The one who reached Ruby first raised his weapon overhead and then brought it down towards the girl with his full force.

Ruby dodged.

She didn't hit the ground and roll away, she didn't lunge forwards at the last moment, she didn't perform an aura-magnified jump. There was no need to do any of these things, as the strike was nowhere near fast enough for such maneuvers. She simply jumped backwards, following her newly learned instinct and allowing the man to hit the floor instead of her.

This put her within the range of another swordsman, who also swung his sword at Ruby, but diagonally instead of vertically. Once again, Ruby took a step backwards. She could hear another attacker approach from behind, so she jumped sideways, causing the thug charging at her to trip and fall to the ground. He then slid a couple of feet, hitting the legs of his comrade who then tripped over the body. His sunglasses broke as his face impacted with the parquet, dealing more damage to the man than he could hope to inflict on Ruby with her aura active.

Ruby couldn't believe her own eyes. But since she felt no pain at the moment, it was apparently true that none of the attackers managed to hit her. Their strikes weren't much different from what Jaune's students did at a gym, they weren't clumsy or anything, but they were just so… pathetically slow compared to the ones she was required to dodge on every training session. Nowhere near quick anough to match Ruby's aura-boosted reflexes.

Was that simply the difference between the aura users and all the other people? As she dodged a strike after strike, Ruby started to truly realize just how much stronger her aura made her. Even without a semblance, without a weapon, without even knowing how to throw a punch properly, she was as good as invincible against all these grown, trained fighters whose only disadvantage was not having their auras unlocked. Jaune's training definitely helped with that, but it lasted barely a month at this point. The people she was fighting must have trained for a lot longer, but they couldn't keep up because nobody recited a short chant in front of them.

Why didn't everyone have their auras unlocked? The only reasons Jaune ever gave came down to some vague philosophical ramblings that maybe made sense to him, but couldn't possibly persuade everyone out of getting superpowers with no ill effects. If it was possible to make a dumb faunus maid into a fighter within weeks, why wouldn't Junior just teach every one of his men how to use aura? Why didn't the armies do it, if it could save their soldiers' lives? Why didn't the parents do it to make their children more safe? Was there any good reason for why _everybody in the world _didn't have their auras unlocked at this point?

"You are all useless." Junior growled, causing Ruby to start paying attention to the fight once more. "Step back, I'll show you how it's done."

With these words, the giant grasped the club with both hands and charged towards Ruby. While his men might not have been very threatening, he certainly was – his speed wasn't quite on par with Jaune's, but it was enough to make Ruby feel concerned again.

Junior took a swing, aiming to crush Ruby with his club. Fortunately, the swing was wide enough for Ruby to perform a dodge, though it was a lot closer this time. Uncertain whether she would be able to remain standing for much longer, Ruby glanced towards Jaune to see if he was free to help at the moment. He was still fighting the two weird girls, though he appeared to be winning judging from how easily he avoided their strikes now and how powerful his counterattacks were.

Sadly, glancing away from her opponent was a terrible mistake on Ruby's part. When Junior struck again, she no longer had enough of a window to jump out of the way and was forced to activate her aura instead in hopes of tanking the blow.

The force of the strike sent Ruby flying backwards. She lost a good chunk of her aura when the club hit here and an equally large chunk when she hit the wall one second later. It didn't give her any real injuries, but it still hurt a lot and drove all the air from her lungs.

At that moment, Junior could probably run up to Ruby and finish the job with another smash. Instead, however, he transformed his weapon into its ranged variant, which Ruby believed was called a 'bazooka'. Sure enough, when a projectile came out of the long pipe, it was a small and rapidly accelerating rocket which threatened to hit Ruby and blow her up to little pieces.

In spite of being somewhat dazed, Ruby got up and lunged forwards. She has never dodged an explosive thus far, but Jaune told her what to do in such a situation. Before she collided with the rocket, Ruby ducked to the ground, allowing the projectile to fly above her and towards the same wall the wolf faunus hit just a moment ago.

The good news were that the dodge proved itself successful, as the rocket missed Ruby by a good two feet. The bad news were that once said rocket collided with the wall, it exploded and cause a shockwave strong enough to proper Ruby off the ground. The other good news were that the force of the blast wasn't enough to deplete Ruby's aura. The other bad news were that, upon landing, Ruby found herself prone and right in Junior's reach.

"This time stay…" Junior said, raising his weapon once more, but never got to finish his line, let alone hit Ruby again. The blade of Jaune's sword hit him in the chest, then in the neck, then in the abdomen. He tried to back away and gain some distance, but Jaune wouldn't give him an inch. The huntsman just kept on attacking, with far greater speed and fury than he ever showed against Ruby.

After maybe twelve seconds of the assault, Junior's aura broke. Jaune's last strike toppled him to the ground, leaving him prone and terrified of what was next to come. Luckily for him, Jaune didn't take an opportunity to strike his opponent down and simply knelt beside him instead.

"Your forces are down." He said neutrally. "Are you willing to cooperate now?"

Seeing how the battlefield looked like, that offer must have been really tempting. From her position Ruby could see both twins lying on the ground, not dead and maybe not seriously injured, but definitely defeated. As for the regular thugs, they were still mostly unharmed and on their legs, but seeing their boss get taken down so easily clearly made them reluctant to go against Jaune.

"You…" Junior gulped. "What was that thing you wanted?"

"Every faunus in this place must be brought before me. Now." Jaune replied. There was no way to see his expression through the mask, but if it was as unflinching as his voice, it must have looked quite terrifying.

"You heard him." Junior said loudly. "Bring every ani… faunus here, without exceptions. If you don't do that in the next minute, I will let that guy stab you in the face."

"Wise of you." Jaune said, watching the thugs disperse. "Someone else might have tried to delay me even further, or to risk keeping some of the slaves hidden. Good to know that you have some reason left."

"Unlike you." Junior growled, having regained his bravery somewhat. "Most of them will not want to leave. If they do, the will just get caught as soon as they leave."

"We'll see about that." Jaune replied, before getting up and turning towards Ruby. "Are you alright?"

By now, Ruby had gotten off the floor as well. She was feeling relief now that the fight was over… but she was also angry that she had to take part in this fight in the first place.

"What was that!?" She asked accusingly. "You told me you didn't want me to fight."

"I didn't want you to fight. I wanted you to survive." The huntsman explained calmly. "And you did just that."

"Well I could have gotten killed here, you know?" Ruby threw back.

"Not really. I could have disengaged in any moment if it got really dangerous." Jaune shrugged. "Also, congrats on getting your confidence up."

"Huh?" Ruby found herself confused after the last sentence. "I don't think I was being confident here."

"A month ago you would feel too anxious to argue with me." Jaune replied. "Now you can do that seamlessly. You've gotten a lot more confident since we allowed you into our ranks."

Allowed her into… Oh right, Jaune must have meant the start of her training. Back then, she wouldn't have dared to openly argue with her master. The only time she ever did that until now was back on her first day, and it caused her to nearly faint from fear once the anger passed. She really did change a lot since then.

Ruby could almost feel her cheeks darken as a weird mix of pride and embarrassment washed over her. She wasn't really sure what made her feel so comfortable around her owner all the sudden. Maybe it was the time they spent together, but there was something about this whole situation as well… Somehow, despite having a Grimm mask over his face and having just beaten up a far larger man, he seemed less scary than usually. Ruby had no idea why she felt that way, she just did.

There was, however, not enough time to discuss those feelings. Junior's thugs completed their task quite quickly, as it only took them about a minute to come back with almost two dozen faunus following them. Most of them were women, dressed in uniforms which included very short skirts and wearing various level of makeup. Their animal traits were either not visible or minor enough not to attract much attention. Those girls must have worked as waiters, hookers or both – Ruby didn't think it polite to ask. There were only four men, three of whom were janitors judging by their outfits. The last one – a goat faunus, judging by the small horns coming out of his head – was probably the oldest of the bunch and the most well-dressed at that. Probably someone on a higher position, or maybe just a bootlicker who managed himself fairly well.

Aside from their species, the only thing all these people had in common was fear in their eyes. They were all scared to see the battlefield, scared to be rounded up like that and, most of all, scared of a tall man in a mask. If there was hope in their eyes, it wasn't noticeable at the moment.

"Do you have any restraining devices on you?" Jaune asked right out of the bat. "Any trackers? Things that would identify you as runaways?"

No one responded with a word, but one of the girls put her leg forwards, bringing attention to a barely visible metal anklet.

"I suppose it's more elegant than collars." Jaune remarked. "Anyone who has one, let me take it off. Red, you take care of your task."

It took Ruby a moment to realize whom the last order was referring to. She then nodded her head, approached the second nearest wall – the nearest one was irreparably destroyed by now – and took off her backpack.

Everything she needed was there. A canister of red paint and a brush to spread it. Ruby felt a little nervous, even though she didn't have a good reason to. She had practiced what she was about to do before the mission, and it wasn't as though much talent was needed.

After making sure that there was a decent distance between her and Junior's thugs – it wouldn't be fun if one of them struck her from behind as some form of vengeance – Ruby began painting. With red paint, she began forming a shape, one that looked like a head of some dangerous beast. Not any specific animal of Grimm, just a thing with a long snout and some really mean teeth. Once she was satisfied with that, she completed her work by striking three red lines throughout the entire thing.

The symbol of the White Fang. One they wanted to leave behind as a message of sorts. While the group didn't actually have anything to do with the raid, it didn't really matter, not according to Jaune at least. Most attacks such as this weren't administered by the White Fang itself, but many wannabe rebels would still leave the exact same symbol behind. It was an icon, something that would remind humans of the defeat they were dealt, now and for years to come. Well, more like a day or two until they decided to wash it off a wall, but it still mattered. Or at the very least, Jaune thought it mattered, and that was all that mattered to Ruby.

By the time Ruby returned to her owner, he was taking off what looked like the last one of the anklets, using his sword as an improvised lever. After that was done, he stood up once again, in the middle of the rough circle the faunus formed.

"Now, the most obvious method of tracking you down is gone." He proclaimed. "If you go out now and just run in a random direction, you will be soon out of range of the standard search. If anyone bothers you, and I doubt anyone will, they will probably leave you alone if you sell them some excuse for being outdoors like that."

"Dear sir…" The goat faunus, one without any sort of uniform, started to slowly speak. "I appreciate your kindly help, but the risk is…"

"I do not require you to leave." Ruby could swear she heard a quiet sigh coming from behind the mask. "If you feel like staying here, I won't force you out. I can't even say you would be wrong to do so. Maybe your master will reward your loyalty with less beatings or better food."

Junior, wisely, stayed silent.

"But, if you decide to take that risk and leave, I advise you to try and find others like you. The White Fang is always recruiting and if you don't feel like joining, you might find someone willing to transport you over to Vacuo. Once there, you will be as good as safe from capture. Your choice." Jaune turned away from the faunus, before adding one more thing. "And feel free to take something from here as a keepsake. I'm sure nobody will mind."

The faunus initially seemed unsure as to what they should do, but all of them were clearly reluctant to stay near their master and another scary man for longer than they needed to. They quickly dispersed and, once outside of clear hearing range, began whispering among each other.

"Well, I hope you feel good about yourself now." Junior said with heavy irony. "Is that all you wanted from me? You have my word that I will not send my men after them, though don't be surprised if the police catches them."

"Actually, there is one more matter." Jaune knelt over Junior once more. With one hand, he grabbed his sword, while with the other he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. "An information I want. You don't have to give it to me, but I am usually nicer when I get what I want."

"Do you really…" Junior seemed very irritated, but quickly recalled what situation he was in. "What is it that you want?"

In response, Jaune shoved the piece of paper into Junior's face. It was actually a photo, now that Ruby could take a good look at it, and it portrayed a woman with raven hair and golden eyes. She looked sort of like Blake, except not at all, because their facial features were completely different and one of them lacked the cat ears, or any animal trait for that matter. Besides, there was something about the eyes of the woman in the photo that made them seem very different from those that the cat faunus had. Maybe it was the color, darker than Blake's bright yellow, but there was also this general impression… one that Ruby didn't know enough words to describe. It definitely wasn't anything pleasant, quite the opposite. It was almost creepy in some weird manner, something about the photo screamed 'danger' on top of its lungs, even though it was just a pretty face printed on paper.

"I don't remember …" Junior started, but then he paused and frowned. "Wait, isn't it that the girl from Shade? The one responsible for the whole…"

This time, Junior didn't pause out of his own will. The hilt of Jaune's sword impacted with his head powerfully and loudly, causing him to lose consciousness and fall limply on the floor. Jaune simply sheathed his word again, hid the photo back in his pocket and stood up. Ruby couldn't see his expression, but somehow he seemed satisfied with the results, whatever those results were.

"What was that?" Ruby asked, approaching Jaune so that she could talk to him less audibly.

"I figured it would be good to knock him out." Jaune replied. "He said that he will not send after the runaways, but while the dealer's word is worth quite a lot, it's best not to take unnecessary risks."

"No, I mean what was the whole thing? You didn't tell me anything about… that."

"It was just a… secondary objective. A part of a side activity I engage in whenever I have the time. No need for you to worry about it."

"Alright." Ruby agreed, not seeing the point of further discussion. If Jaune said something was not her business, he was probably right. "Are we leaving yet?"

Jaune looked towards the opposite side of the hall, where a group of faunus was hastily walking through the exit. It looked as though little more than half of them decided to leave – a group that included all three janitors and eight of the girls. The rest was still in the room, having either decided they were staying or being still unsure what to do.

"Yes." Jaune nodded. "Our job is done. Now we can head back."

And so they left, turning their backs to a semi-destroyed nightclub, three unconscious people and a whole bunch of people with no idea what to do with themselves.

/-/

The police sirens could be heard in the distance. Luckily, 'distance' was the key word here – Jaune and Ruby managed to cover a good distance before the cops and other humans in uniforms started showing up. Right now they were walking calmly through the street, their masks hidden in a backpack, but otherwise in exact same clothes they wore during the attack.

It felt surreal. How could you do something so big – chase off a hundred people, beat up a dozen and set multiple faunus free – and just walk away so casually? Ruby knew they would probably succeed, she knew Jaune wasn't going in without a plan, but she still expected something more dramatic near the end. Some tense chase or something, not just marching out with a slightly increased pace.

"So, how are your impressions?" Jaune asked once it became clear that there was no one following them. "Anything you learned? Anything you want to comment on?"

"Well, um…" Ruby would have gladly impressed her master with having learned something from their little raid, but she couldn't think of anything smart to say at the moment. "Sorry, I have nothing. It's just… what would have happened if we didn't get out of there on time? What if we got caught?"

"Had the police arrived while we were still at the scene, I would have to fight through them as well." Jaune replied. "I doubt it would be harder than dealing with those two chicks, or even the regular goons. Still, it would have been pretty inconvenient."

"Yeah. Inconvenient…" Ruby murmured, thinking just how absurd it was that an open fight with the authorities counted as 'inconvenience' now.

"Look, I'm sorry for dragging you into the fight." Jaune suddenly sounded a lot less upbeat. "I just thought it was a good opportunity for you to see how actual combat looked like. I get that you felt scared and that you still might be shaken, but it all ended well, right?"

"Right…" Ruby thought about the runaway slaves once again. She didn't particularly care about what happened to them – helping people she didn't even know was a 'secondary target' for her at best – but she was supposed to care about the faunus libration and all, so it would make sense for her to bring up the topic. "Do you think those guys will make it? I mean those faunus we convinced to leave."

"We gave them an opportunity to leave." Jaune specified. "Whatever happens from now on is up to them. I think they have at least a decent shot, especially since the authorities will be much more concerned about future attacks than about catching a few runaways. In any case, we did whatever we could for them."

Despite his words, Jaune didn't seem very assured. In fact, right after he finished his last statement, he scowled as though something was worrying him.

"What is it?" Ruby asked, concern washing over her as well.

"It's nothing."Jaune shook his head. "I have a feeling as though I have forgotten something, but I completed all the objectives I had prepared. The mission went pretty swimmingly, so I don't know what…"

Suddenly, Jaune stopped dead in his tracks. Ruby stopped marching as well and looked at her master questioningly, as he raised his hand and massaged his palm.

"I am such an idiot." The huntsman growled. "You should have reminded me."

"Remind you of what? I barely understood what that whole thing was about." Ruby said defensively.

"I don't mean the mission. Ruby, you remember what day it is, correct?"

"A weird holiday for kids who like wearing cheap costumes." Ruby replied.

"Yes, it's Halloween, but I'm not talking about that either. It's October thirty-first. According to your profile, that's the day you were born, right?"

"I guess." Ruby shrugged. "What of it?"

"Well, it's your birthday then." Jaune threw his hands up, as though he was stating something obvious. "You do know what birthday is, right?"

"Sure I do." Ruby nodded. "When a human turns a year older, their family and friends gather to celebrate them being a year closer to death and eat a cake together. The closer the person is to dying, the happier everyone is, so they put more candles on with each year."

"Um…" Jaune looked taken aback by this perfectly normal reply. "Ruby, why do you think we are celebrating someone's upcoming death?"

"Lots of reasons, I think." Ruby replied. "The children wait for the parents to grow older and die, so that they can take all their stuff afterwards. Same thing with friends. The parents are happy their child grows older because it means they will be rid of it sooner. When they finally do at the eighteen birthday, the party is especially big."

"I get that you never had a birthday party or anything of the sorts, right?"

"We faunus don't celebrate that sort of thing." Ruby explained. "Even if we had time for that, we just don't have any reason to. We don't pass much down when we die, so there is no reason to be happy when someone grows older, and of the children who actually stay with their parents, it's the owners who pay for food."

"That is… actually, that makes some sense now that I think about it. Maybe." Jaune scowled once more. "No, that can't be it. My species isn't screwed up like that."

The faunus slave stayed silent.

"Well, maybe we are kind of screwed up…" Jaune scratched his head. "I get that you don't want me to prepare you anything for birthday?"

"Depends. Are you glad I'm closer to dying now?"

"That's not…" Jaune started, only to sigh in defeat. "You know what, fine, no birthday parties. I think we are both too tired to do anything this night anyway."

"I would like to go to sleep." Ruby confirmed. "This whole revolution thing is kind of tiring."

"Let's just go home then." Jaune resumed walking. "Still, I feel kind of bad for forgetting the date like that. I'll make it up to you in the future."

"You really don't have to." Ruby replied, following behind him. "Though if you could go easier on me next time we train…"

"No deal." Jaune shook his head, smiling slightly. "Your dodging still isn't quite perfect. And I think I have a spare rocket or two…"

* * *

**Weird how I don't really have anything to write in this note, even though that was the longest chapter thus far. I'm pretty sure there are some things people would object to, but I'll wait for reviews to find out just what these things are.**


	8. Uncertainty

Ruby ducked under the sword. She then immediately jumped back, dodging a follow-up strike by a fairly wide margin. When Jaune raised his blade again, she tilted her body a little to the left, only to dodge right once the sword actually struck.

By now she didn't have to think even about the more complex maneuvers. Jumping, ducking, feinting, sidestepping – all of that was long engrained in her muscle memory, as Jaune would describe it. Almost every one of her responses was instinctual and nearly instantaneous, which allowed her to avoid nearly every blow aimed against her.

While Ruby was prepared to do some more dodging if required, Jaune didn't exactly have the energy to continue attacking. He sheathed his sword, sighed and sat down on a nearby chest.

"That would be it for today." He said, putting down his sword. "I think I repeated all forms of attack multiple times."

"How am I doing then?" Ruby asked, mostly just fishing for compliments.

"Pretty good, I'd say." Jaune replied, his lips quirking up. "My predictions seem accurate, maybe even a little pessimistic. By the end of the year, you should be able to handle a group of mundane fighters on your own. Maybe not soldiers or anti-terrorists, since those can be pretty tough, but most security forces should be a fair game."

"Not to brag, but…" Ruby scratched her head. "Didn't I already do that? Fight a group of people I mean. Those guys at the club couldn't hit me no matter how much they've tried."

"That was pretty impressive, but don't get too cocky." Jaune frowned. "You haven't actually fought them. You evade their attack, sure, but doing that while trying to strike back would be a lot harder. And you have to strike back in order to win a battle. If you just kept dodging indefinitely, sooner or later you would lose. Either you got too tired to stay on two feet, or they figured out a way to capture you after all. Really, all they had to do was pile up on you at once. You might be good enough to hang around in a fight like that, but not to actually win."

"Alright, I get it." Ruby sat down as well, thinking back towards that mission a week back. The memories would constantly come back to her, though weirdly enough, the fight itself wasn't what bothered her the most. It wasn't even the quick escape they had to pull off, stressful as it was. The thing that really worried Ruby was that last exchange between Jaune and Junior. That whole 'secondary objective' thing she wasn't supposed to worry about.

At first, she did exactly as she'd been told and didn't pay it much thought. Jaune looking for some unknown woman, even a creepy one, wasn't something that Ruby had any reason to be interested by. It didn't affect her, or at least it shouldn't, but there was something about that scene that really worried her...

"Something's bothering you?" Jaune asked, sitting right next to the faunus. Ruby shook her head in response.

"Is that about the mission?" Jaune kept asking. Ruby reluctantly nodded in response.

"Look, I get what you're worried about." Jaune probably meant that statement to be comforting, but it came out as anything but. Would he be angry at her for worrying even though she wasn't supposed to? It didn't seem like his style, but then again, it seemed like something of a sensitive topic to him.

"You do?" Ruby asked nervously.

"You are probably wondering why not all slaves decided to leave." Jaune replied, surprising Ruby a fair bit. "Why they would stay in such a place rather than take a chance to flee."

After a moment's thought, Ruby nodded once again. She understood perfectly why some people would rather remain enslaved than take a tremendous risk of running away – she would have probably done the same in their situation, unless Junior was _really _bad to them – but it made sense for a freedom fighter she was supposed to be not to understand such a decision.

"For one, people are generally scared of change. Even a change for better." Jaune said in that teacher-y tone of his. "When you are in a bad situation for a long while, you begin to accustom to it. It's not necessarily a bad thing, since it makes it easier to endure tough times, but sometimes it makes us afraid when things look like they are about to change. Afraid to hope, one could say. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you can relate to that at least a little bit."

That made Ruby wonder just how much of Jaune said applied to her. She did feel fairly comfortable in her current situation, but she attributed that more to common sense than anything else. Who wouldn't feel comfortable if they were safe and provided for? Most humans wouldn't, but they were just weird. Blake clearly hadn't, but she was pretty weird too, with her fever dreams about a world-wide revolution and in that penguin suit of hers. Ruby wasn't 'accustomed' to anything, she was just sane.

"There is also, of course, the conventional fear of punishment." Jaune carried on. "That's something I find hard to understand. I get why someone would be scared of getting beaten or branded, but to that extent? I know huntsmen who don't really care about protecting people, they are in the profession just for money. If people are willing to risk a painful death for the sake of a salary, why wouldn't they risk less for their own freedom?"

_You don't know how that feels. _Ruby thought, suddenly feeling a tinge of anger. By all likelihood, Jaune was never in a situation where someone threatened to kill or torture him. He surely faced danger and pain as a huntsman – who knows, he might had felt more pain than Ruby had in total – but as she could attest, there was a difference between being hit with a sword and with a whip. One encouraged you to defend yourself and dodge better, the other just left you helpless and terrified.

Still, she wouldn't openly call her owner out on that one. Partially because it would be impolite, but also because it wouldn't exactly be in-character for her.

"It can be hard to make a choice like that." Ruby stated neutrally. "It's only natural to be scared."

"I suppose." Jaune shrugged. "In any case, freedom is not something that can be forced upon somebody. We can only free the people who actively want to be free, anything else is doomed to fail."

"I see what you mean." Ruby nodded thoughtfully, to indicate how smart she thought that obvious statement was.

"You shouldn't think about it too much. All that matters is that we are making a change, small or otherwise." Jaune said, standing up.

"Right." Ruby also got up from the chest. "Are we going home now then?"

"Not yet. There is something else I want to do. Something important."

"What is it?" Ruby asked curiously.

"You have already seen how a battle looks like, and I think you have a decent idea how not to get killed. I figured you need a weapon to actually start fighting."

"A weapon? You want me to make one now?" Ruby perked up. The idea of assembling a weapon was interesting ,but the timing surprised her. She couldn't remember Jaune's exact words about how the training would proceed, but wasn't making a weapon, like, a big deal?

"No, not exactly." Jaune shook his head. "Rather, I would like you to decide what type of weapon do you want to train yourself in. I can't expect you to actually create one yourself, not yet. But if you're ever going to forge your own weapon, you will have to know how that weapon works."

"So you just want me to pick whether I want to hit people with a sword or an axe?"

"You have more choices than that, but yes." Jaune nodded and then began walking towards the backroom. "Follow me."

As Ruby trudged behind Jaune, she was intensely thinking about the subject at hand. She hasn't given much thought to the subject of weaponry before and she could now see how stupid that was. Of course she would have to decide what weapon she wanted to use eventually, it just always seemed like something distant. Always something else to worry about.

Well not anymore. Ruby wondered what kind of weapon would suit her best, though in all honesty, she doubted she would be able to us _any _weapon properly. She just wasn't cut out to be a warrior and while Jaune said she progressed swiftly, he only saw her dodging and using aura. She could manage those things well enough, but there was no saying if she would do equally well in wielding an actual weapon.

Speaking of weapons, Jaune led her into the armory, one were all the training weapons were being kept. There were quite a lot of armament arranged there, from daggers to flails, from handguns to sniper rifles. There were no fancy mecha-shift weapons Jaune's students often wielded, but each one of these devices made for a rather intimidating sight.

"I would advise you to pick a melee weapon as your starter." Jaune said. "Most novices start their training with close quarter combat and some feel so comfortable with it that they never bother to pick up a gun. But if you feel drawn to some of these firearms, I won't discourage you."

"No, I will leave the guns for later." Ruby agreed. While using a gun didn't seem hard — all you really had to do was aim and pull the trigger — there was definitely something hard about it judging from how often she saw students miss their targets. Hitting something with a melee weapon seemed more effective.

But there was still the matter of deciding what melee weapon she wanted exactly. Sword was out of the question — using those seemed pretty complicated compared to other weapons and it would be pretty easy for her to hurt herself accidentally while using one. She did not want to end her life impaled by her own weapon. Axes were simpler and generally less sharp, but they were also heavy and unwieldy, same with maces and hammers. Daggers were somewhat tempting due to how simple and handy they were, but Ruby didn't feel like getting that close to her opponents. She wanted to achieve the opposite result in fact, which made her very interested in polearms and such.

Maybe a simple spear would be a good choice? It seemed simple enough to use and ruby did see three or four people wielding spears into duels, so it wasn't some sort of absurd choice. It couldn't be really used defensively like a sword or even an axe could, but it wouldn't be a problem as long as Ruby could keep her distance and just stab her opponent repeatedly. Granted, she would have to stab one opponent at the time which would make things pretty difficult in larger battles...

Then something caught Ruby's eye. A scythe, lying on the edge of the weapon stand, the only such weapon in the entire assortment. It seemed out of place, looking more a farming tool than an actual weapon... but maybe it was a good thing. After all, something that a farmer could use couldn't be too hard to master, could it?

Ruby picked up the strange weapon and weighed it in her arm. She was able to lift in easily, even with just one arm. It seemed like it would be easy enough to swing around too, the blade light enough to lift and heavy enough to bring down with some serious speed. The weapon would also provide Ruby with some serious reach like a spear would, but unlike a spear, it could potentially strike more than one opponent at once — the thought of decapitating multiple people with a single swing was actually quite appealing.

"A scythe?" Jaune asked, seeming a little surprised.

"Is there anything wrong with it?" Ruby asked, turning the weapon around to get a better feel for it.

"No, there is not. Actually, would you swing it at me?"

"Um, alright?" Ruby wasn't entirely comfortable with that request, but at the end of the day, there really wasn't much she could do to Jaune even if she seriously tried. So she obliged, lifting the scythe high into the air and swinging it at her master with all her strength.

Jaune dodged out of the way with little more than a quick step backwards. That much Ruby had expected. What she hadn't thought about was that, not having hit anything, the scythe kept its momentum and kept flying towards the ground.

Not wishing to damage the floor or the weapon, Ruby released her grip on the handle, instinctively knowing it pointless to try and pull the scythe upwards. Instead she grabbed it from the other side and pushed it up into the air instead. Before the scythe managed to fall back down, Ruby caught it in her hand once more, her grip firm once more.

"You are pretty handy with that." Jaune noted with surprise in his voice.

"Am I? I didn't get close to hitting you."

"No, I mean that motion you did. I'm surprised you can keep your balance while striking, let alone perform tricks like that."

"I guess it's something I'm good at." Ruby said dismissively. "It always pays off not to trip or drop something. Same goes with weapons."

"Still, that is impressive. Can you try hitting me few more times?"

Ruby smiled obligingly, glad for a chance to earn some compliments. She attacked Jaune several times and while she still didn't manage to score a hit, she was able to keep a good grip on her weapon the entire time.

"Alright, that's enough." Jaune said after a seventh strike or so. "You will obviously need more practice if you want to hit anything, but you are doing very well for your first time. Especially for a scythe wielder."

"Thanks!" Ruby exclaimed, putting the scythe down. Then the last sentence caught up to her. "Wait, what do you mean by 'for a scythe wielder'?"

"Not many people use scythes because of how hard they are to master." Jaune explained. "But you clearly have an affinity for it. With right training, you will be a formidable force."

Crap. There went Ruby's reasoning that a farming tool should be the easiest thing to use. Of all the weapons available, she just had to pick one that almost nobody used because of how difficult it was.

"Well, if you says so, maybe I should try with something less..."

"No." Jaune interrupted Ruby's attempt to back out. "That's not what I'm getting at. It might be challenging for you to master that particular weapon, but you made your choice and it seems to have been the right one."

"Yeah. Sure." Ruby murmured, while mentally cursing herself.

"Don't get discouraged too soon." Jaune said, seeing the girl's expression. "Remember what I told you about fighting styles?"

"None of them are really similar?" Ruby recalled.

"Precisely. It doesn't really matter what weapon you choose, as long as you can make it your own." Jaune approached Ruby and gently tapped her shoulder. "You're going to be a great fighter one day. I believe that and so should you."

"Thanks." As always, Ruby could feel herself getting just a little bit redder. "You want me to start training with that thing right away?"

"I will have to prepare you some exercises first." Jaune shook his head. "I don't feel all that comfortable with just letting you swing at me time at time again."

Ruby stared at Jaune.

"Yeah, I guess that makes me a hypocrite." The young man shrugged. "Anyways, want to go home?"

/-/

There was something wrong. Immediately upon exiting the car, Ruby felt a sense of unease, though it took her a moment to register why she was feeling this way. Through one of the windows, she could see a light shining, even though she was fairly sure she had turned all the lights off before leaving. Moreover, there were some sounds coming from the inside of the house. Not loud, not distinct enough to tell her anything, but still audible.

Jaune clearly noticed that as well. Instead of approaching the door immediately after exiting the car, he just stood there on a driveway, assessing the situation with that worried look on his face.

"Someone is inside." Ruby said, approaching her mentor. "You think Blake broke in again?"

"None of the windows is open and I see many lights turned on, so not, it doesn't look like Blake. Rather..." Jaune paused for a second, as though he suddenly realized something, and then let out a long sigh. "I hate it when I forget something. It just keeps happening when you have a lot on your mind, you know?"

"Wait, what are talking about?"

"Just come with me." Jaune said as he moved towards the door. "And play a part. She does not know much."

Ruby bit down an urge to keep asking, knowing that since Jaune wasn't worried it probably wasn't all that important. She followed the huntsman towards and then through the door, entering the warm and well-lit interior of the house.

There was already someone inside and, truthfully to Jaune's words, it was not Blake. Upon entering the living room, Ruby saw a young woman sitting on a couch.

"Jaune!" Upon seeing new arrivals, the woman smiled and stood up from the couch. "I was waiting for you. You told me you were finishing work at four o'clock, didn't you?"

"There was a small change of plans." Jaune scratched the back of his head. "I guess I should have informed you. Sorry sis."

Sister then? Ruby couldn't recall Jaune mentioning anything about having siblings, but then again, he wouldn't talk about his family very often.

"No big deal. In a way, it's nice to see you haven't changed that much, you scatterbrain." The blonde's smile grew even further, but then fell as her gaze trailed sideways and rested on Ruby. "Though I guess something changed..."

"Don't be bothered." Jaune said. "She is compliant and does not carry any diseases. I made sure of both."

"That's not what I meant and you know it." The woman's expression turned downright stern. "You do have a bad history with how you treat faunus."

"Look, I learned from my mistakes." Jaune said defensively. "I won't waste a pile of money again. I fed her well, didn't beat her much, I didn't even give her all that much work."

"She doesn't look horrible..." The blonde said, taking a step towards the young faunus. Ruby hang her head and kept her eyes on the floor, an almost instinctual reaction to a human taking interest in her.

Though to be fair, that particular human didn't seem all that scary. It wasn't her comment about how Jaune supposedly treated his faunus, or even Jaune himself telling Ruby not to be afraid. Nothing about the woman, aside from the lack of animal traits, painted her as dangerous.

"What's your name?" The blonde asked. It surprised Ruby a little — it wasn't a question she was asked all that often — but at least it was something she could answer safely.

"It's Ruby." She replied, looking sternly at the floor. She wasn't as much faking fear as she was exaggerating what was actually there — the presence of a human other than Jaune still unnerved her a little.

"Like a gem? That's one pretty name."

"Um, thanks?" Ruby didn't have to feign surprise. A few people commented on her name, but rarely as a compliment. It would more often be a comment on how the name wasn't usual for a faunus.

"She's just always anxious like that." Jaune stated. "Don't take it the wrong way."

"I sure wonder why that's the case." The blonde murmured. "Anyways, are you fine with me staying? Or did that change too?"

"You will always have a place here." Jaune assured his sister. "You can sleep in the guest room. It's not ready right now, but it should be in a moment."

Jaune then looked at Ruby in a way which might have seemed stern from the outside, but for Ruby it seemed to carry a hidden meaning. Luckily it only took her a moment to figure out what that meaning was.

"I'll prepare the bedclothes." Ruby said bowing and, after being given a nod, departed for her room. She had to remove any sign of her presence in her own room. It would be quite bothersome, but a prejudiced, neglectful Jaune giving his slave her own room would definitely raise eyebrows.

Really, what was the plan there? Would Jaune play the part of a harsh master full time now? Wouldn't that force him to actually be a harsh master he didn't want to be?

They really had to talk this out.

/-/

"We really have to talk this out." Jaune said once they were alone once more. He spent an hour just talking with his sister and then another one alone just waiting for the right moment. At the moment Saphron was in 'her' room talking to someone at the scroll and so Jaune and Ruby could likely have their talk uninterrupted now that they were standing outside the house.

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Ruby asked. "I mean, I know you have family but you never mentioned them, or that one of them would come along."

"I don't really talk about personal matters without a need to," Jaune replied. "But you're right, I should have warned you. Saphron comes to Vale once in a while, to visit old friends and get in touch with her homeland. She stays with me, as it's probably the cheapest option. In exchange she houses me when I need to visit Argus for any number of reasons. She lives there with her wife and a son."

"Wife?" Ruby cocked an eyebrow. "How does that work?"

Jaune paused for a moment. "Ruby... you don't have a problem with people... making love with people of the same sex, do you?"

"I just don't get it." Ruby shrugged. "I mean who benefits out of that? What's the point?"

"... what do you think the point of having sex in general is?" Jaune was now looking at Ruby with clear worry.

"For a man it's enjoyment. The woman needs to get forced into it, or paid, or promised some sort of favor. Usually there is some force involved though." Ruby explained. "Sometimes the man will infect the woman with a baby, which then eats away her strength for months on end before it finally comes out, causing intense agony in the process. It's weak and ugly and often dies soon after it's born. For some reason, it makes the mothers sad, at least usually."

Jaune stood silent for a while. A rather long while, which made Ruby wonder if she said something wrong.

"But that's just what I saw." She clarified. "It might work a little differently with two women. Or simply with human women, I guess."

"You know, Ruby, I think I noticed a pattern." Jaune finally said. "Whenever we have these conversations, I feel like every word that comes out of your mouth brutally crushes my spirit."

"I'm sorry?" Ruby apologized, though she didn't really understand what for.

"You don't have to, that's not your fault." Jaune sighed. "Can you change the subject? Please? I'm starting to think that the genocidal faction of the White Fang might have a point."

"Alright." Ruby agreed. "So, do you have any other family members I should hear about?"

" I don't think so. I have six more sisters, but I'm not all that close to any of them and they are quite busy with their lives, careers, children or both. I don't expect any of them to give me a visit."

Seven sisters then? Wow. Ruby wondered if the real reason Jaune was willing to fight alongside the White Fang was that his parents were secretly rabbit faunus. Then again, Jaune's family wasn't the most important thing right now.

"What do we do now, then?" Ruby moved on the actual issue. "You don't seem to be keeping her in the know about..."

"Don't say it out loud." Jaune interjected. After Ruby obediently fell silent, he let out a sigh. "No, I did not tell Saph about my dealings. I don't think she would have snitched at me had she known, but she would not take the truth well either. I think I want to keep it that way, for the sake of convenience."

"It's not very convenient though, is it?" Ruby pointed out. "We now have to lie to her full time and act the part. How do we manage that?"

"As you said. We lie and act the part."

"But..." Ruby wanted to point out that she didn't like the part that would fall to her, but was interrupted once again.

"I'm not going to actually turn abusive, Ruby." Jaune said, reading her worries correctly. "I won't even be especially rude. I want Saph to think me bigoted, not to give me lecture each day. You will have to sleep on the couch, at least that makes the most sense, but that's the most discomfort you will suffer.

"I guess that's fine." Ruby said without much conviction. "But I'm no actor. Are you sure I can be convincing?"

"Yes." Jaune replied without hesitation. "And not in a 'I believe in you' sort of way. You interact with people as though they were wild animals that are just about to attack you. Just don't get angry like you did in the club and you'll look just fine."

Ruby felt that was a little unfair. He didn't see everyone as a threat, just the humans other than Jaune. And the faunus larger than her, she had stronger slaves steal her meals before. And those smaller than her, they often had traits that made them dangerous, like that snake girl who bit her and injected some venom that made her dizzy. Or the animals on the street, they could always have rabies. Only the really threatening guys.

"Alright." She nodded nonetheless.

"That's great. And sorry for the discomfort again." Jaune turned to enter the house. "And just in case you are not sure of that, you don't have to be afraid of Saphron. She's as harmless as she appears. You might even grow to like her."

"Yeah, sure." Ruby said, for some reason having doubts about that.

/-/

Few days later, the suspicions were confirmed; Ruby did not like Saphron.

As she sat on a couch, she mused about reasons for why she disliked the woman that much. It really wasn't anything about Saphron herself — sure, she was a human, but she seemed harmless enough. It wasn't anything about her attitude, since she was rather nice. It wasn't about having an extra set of dishes to wash, that was barely an inconvenience. It wasn't even that Ruby had to give up her bed – it stung a little, but remembering having to sleep on a basement floor made couch pretty comfortable.

It was more about the effect Saphron had on... well, everything around her. Due to her presence, Ruby was forced to play the role of a miserable, terrified slave. Having to maintain that posture felt tiring and refraining herself from interacting with her owner normally made Ruby feel as though she was in a cage of sorts. Which wasn't quite as bad as actually being tired or in a cage, but still wasn't much fun.

Sure, Saphron had no way to know any of this, but in a way, it only made her more irritating. She didn't just make Ruby's life harder, she made Ruby's life harder and acted as though she was helping. Because surely, her presence was making her brother more reluctant to abuse his poor servant.

Humans were just awful at being nice. Half the time they tried it had the opposite effect.

As she heard someone's footsteps, Ruby forced herself off the couch and onto her feet. Since Jaune was away at the moment, there was only one person who could be approaching. Sitting idly would not tip Saphron off about anything, it would require pretending to be panicked which was not exactly a fun role to play.

Sure enough, the familiar blonde arrived on the scene a moment later.

"Oh Ruby, here you are." She said, looking over the faunus. "Are you busy right now?"

"Actually, I think I have to..." Ruby started, but thankfully was cut off before she had to figure out what was that she was supposed to do.

"No. I was hoping to talk to you and don't think there will be a better moment." Saphron replied. "If you end up not managing to do something in time, I'll take the blame."

"Are you sure we need to do this?" Ruby asked. She wasn't afraid in a way Saphron thought she was, but she still didn't feel like talking very much.

"Yes, I think so." Saphron confirmed. "Look, I can give you a piece of candy afterwards, to balance out the risks. How does that sound?"

_Well that offer is getting interesting. _Ruby's voice of reason remarked. _I say you go for it. _

That was weird. Wasn't Voice of Reason usually against making decisions based on appetite for sugar?

_Desire to eat candy is perfectly reasonable. And it's not like refusing will do you any good, or accepting harm you. Just talk to her and if she asks any tough questions, just say you are forbidden from answering._

"Alright, I guess we may talk for a while." Ruby conceded, seeing the reasoning as more or less valid. "What do you want to talk about though?"

"About you, mostly." Saphron said, sitting down on the couch. "Take a seat. It will be easier this way."

"What is there about me?" Ruby asked, returning to her former seat. She tried to sound merely surprised, but in reality she was scared a fair bit. Had the human girl noticed something was awry after all?

"Well, it's more about how things are going for you." Saphron paused, as though weighing her words. "All right, maybe I should be direct. How is Jaune treating you, exactly?"

"Um, I'm not sure if I should..."

"Ruby please." Saphron said with a pout. "I am not asking to tell on you and I'm not going to get angry myself. I just want to know because I'm worried."

"I get that, it's just..." Ruby tried to find a right excuse. "I'd be a poor servant if I complained about my master, you know?"

"It's not complaining if you just answer questions, isn't it? I'm not even asking you to express your opinion. Just tell me how things are and you can pretend it's all fine, if you feel it's your duty or something."

Ruby pondered about that. The girl seemed too insistent to just let the matter go, though telling her the truth was not an option. The only reasonable solution for Ruby seemed to be bluffing her way out of this one, though she didn't feel too confident about that. Lying about her intentions was one thing – if she lied about actual events, she could contradict herself somehow.

But maybe she didn't have to lie...

"He beats me roughly twice a week." Ruby replied, remembering all her recent training sessions. "Sometimes he throws stuff at me, though I have gotten pretty good at dodging. I also got threatened with branding recently, but got away with a hit from a bat."

"That's... not really worse than what I was expecting." Saphron sighed. "Aside from that? You seem pretty well-fed..."

"Yeah, I've been getting more food recently. I usually get part of what I make for dinner, though not every day." The other days were the ones they ordered some delivery, but that was one of these details that were best left unsaid. "I also got some bedding, though I wasn't allowed to sleep on the couch until you arrived. Guess I have you to thank for that."

"I shouldn't have expected anything else." Saphron massaged her palm. "I can't expect Jaune to get over that, but if he could stop taking it out on his faunus..."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked. "If you don't mind telling me, that is."

"I suppose it's only fair for you to know." Saphron took a deep breath, as though to calm herself. "Have Jaune ever told you about his father? Our father?"

"No, but... I think I remember hearing something about him." Ruby thought back to before she even met Jaune. Hadn't Cardin mentioned something of the likes? "Was he a general."

"A Valean general, yes. During the height of Faunus Rebellions. You know the story, right?"

"Something about a bunch of faunus rising up and then getting stomped." Ruby shrugged. "I don't really know much else."

"Yeah, that's how everyone thinks of the war nowadays. But during the conflict, or so I've been told, things didn't look to be so one-sided, especially not in Vale. The army was small and for a moment, it looked like the faunus might actually overwhelm the Kingdom."

Well that was a new perspective. Ruby was never told anything about the rebellions aside from how pointless they had ultimately been. Now that she thought about it, it didn't make sense for it to be so straight-forward — after all, had the faunus never scored any victories, they wouldn't be trying to this day.

"My father was one of the military leaders facing the uprising. As a child I barely got to see him, he was always on the lines commanding an army or in the capitol discussing strategies. He was always one for direct approach, more willing to take risks than any other commanders. Also more willing to... take drastic actions against the rebels."

Ruby recalled all the stories she'd been told about what happened to the faunus who dared to partake in such uprisings. She heard of captives getting beaten to death, thrown into furnaces or fed to stray Grimm. Some of these stories could have been fake, but few of them had to be real and there probably were some she'd been spared.

"I think I know what you mean." Ruby said briefly.

"I think you do." Saphron nodded, suddenly reluctant to meet Ruby in the eye. "That earned him something of a bad reputation, even amongst regular civilians. I imagine faunus really hated him. Tried to strike him down many times during the war, but it never worked out."

"But after the war..." Ruby felt as though she knew where the story was going and it was not a happy direction.

"Yeah." Saphron kept her eyes focused downwards. "He was killed by some faunus with a vendetta. Maybe White Fang, no one's really sure. Frankly, I don't care to know. It doesn't matter in the slightest. We lost him all the same."

"I'm... sorry to hear that." Ruby said, more because she felt obliged to than anything else. She never really lost anybody due to not having anyone to call family in the first place, so she couldn't really empathize with the human girl here. Still, it sounded pretty bad, so it was probably polite to at least sound sorry.

"Well, it happened a while ago. I'm glad to say I moved on, at least mostly. Jaune though... he does hold a grudge against the faunus. All of them, all of you from the looks of it. I can't really blame him, but it still pains me to see how he takes it out on random faunus." Saphron frowned, only to chuckle grimly a moment later. "Though I guess I'm not the one with the biggest reason to complain."

Ruby nodded, trying to look solemn while doing so. In reality, she was trying to wrap her head around what she just heard.

Why would Jaune fight for the faunus if those were his experiences with the species? Even before his father died there was no way his family would teach him to love the faunus given their history. His given reason was seeing some faunus locked up in cages as a bait for Grimm, which sounded horrible, but would that really make up for being brought up in by someone who hated the faunus and then losing them to the faunus?

_Leave thinking for later. Continue the conversation._

"I guess... I guess it makes sense now." Ruby muttered. "The way he is acting all the time."

"Look." Saphron shifted a little closer to Ruby. "I'm not saying anything my brother did to you was justified. If you hate him for it, that's fine, I'm not asking you not to. Just... try to understand. To keep in mind that he has his reasons."

Did he? Were there reasons good enough to explain Jaune's actions? Ruby doubted that. But again, it apparently wasn't impossible not to hate the faunus with his upbringing...

"Why do you... why don't you act like that?" Ruby asked. "As in, why don't you hate my species? Cause it doesn't seem like you do."

"I just think it's pointless." Saphron shrugged. "Me hating faunus terrorists won't hurt them in any way. I used to be angry back in the day, but then i realized how pointless that was. Holding resentment is like grasping hot iron and expecting the other guy to hurt or something like that.

"Besides, not all faunus are like that." Saphron added. "I cannot imagine you in the White Fang, or even holding a weapon for that matter."

Wow. Ruby wasn't sure if she was supposed to feel proud of her disguise, or to feel roasted.

"Well, um, I could be." Ruby argued. "Like, you can never know for sure."

"I'm pretty certain." Saphron countered. "And that's not really my point. Thousands of people get bitten or even killed by dogs every year, but I still like these guys quite a lot. They just need to be taken care of and maybe kept on a leash when outdoors."

"Right..." Ruby hung her head, thinking about what was said. Saphron's attitude made sense, but it really wasn't Jaune-like. It didn't explain anything.

"Hey, I didn't mean it like that." Saphron apparently misread Ruby's confusion for offense. "I know you don't need a leash yourself. You are well behaved, loyal and quite fun to chat with. Definitely one of the nicer dogs I've met."

Then, to Ruby's surprise, Saphron reached out and stroked Ruby's hair. It didn't feel any different from when Jaune did that, but somehow, Ruby enjoyed it a lot less.

"Um, thanks." Ruby murmured and, after a moment's hesitation, decided to add a correction. "And it's a wolf, actually."

"Sure enough." Saphron said, somewhat dismissively. She then stood up from the couch. "I will leave you now. I think I kept you busy for too long. Just remember what I said."

"I will." Ruby nodded, meaning her words fully. She watched the blonde leave the living room and then left the room herself, heading for the kitchen.

She grabbed a rubber and began clearing the table. Not because it needed cleaning, but because she hoped getting busy would somehow help her center her thoughts.

Did she really have a reason to worry so much? After all, it didn't matter much why Jaune felt responsible for the lives of some faunus he never met. Maybe it was a huntsman thing and Cardin was an exception to the rule. After all, Jaune did mention that his teammates shared his ideals to an extent...

Then Ruby realized something. Something really unpleasant.

Jaune was forced to constantly pretend to be someone he was not in front of everybody, even his own family. Perhaps his friends knew more about him and understood him better, but it's not like they visited very often. Before Saphron came around, he lived in this spacious house alone with his servant, and completely alone until two months ago. It was a nice house, sure, but to spend so much of one's time in loneliness

Before she could get seriously sad, however, Ruby realized something else. Something even more unpleasant. Something _terrifying._

Jaune was able to deceive pretty much everyone he interacted with, including his former teacher, his colleagues and his own family. Ruby knew that for a while now, but only now she realized how big, how _absurd _of a task that must have been. If all his family was distant maybe it wouldn't be such a deal, but Saphron seemed to care about her brother quite a lot. She knew him since childhood and visited him fairly often to this day, but was utterly deceived even still.

If Jaune could fool his own sister like that... would it be so hard to fool a slave girl who only had his own words to rely on?

No. No it wouldn't be. Heck, back when she arrived, Jaune deceived her without meaning to simply by not being clear enough about his intentions and letting her stupidity do the rest for him. It couldn't be too hard to fool her on purpose, especially since she had no real way of checking if anything he told her about the White Fang or his own past was actually true.

It didn't have to be a big deal. Ruby couldn't care less if some piece of info she didn't need was being kept from her. But if it was something important? Something related to her?

Ruby heard sounds of a car parking on the driveway. They indicated that, as could be expected at this hour, her master had finally arrived back home.

She wasn't sure if she felt happy about that.


	9. Red Like Roses

"Well then, I think I can get going." Saphron said, overlooking the car and peeking inside. "I have packed everything I brought with me and I don't think I intended to steal anything from you this time."

"How nice of you." Jaune remarked with a slight smile. Ruby made sure to pay extra attention to his expression, while still keeping the tone of his voice and posture in mind.

After over a week of staying in Jaune's house, Saphron at last decided to pack her bags and leave. Ruby claimed she wanted to see the girl out, and while this wasn't _untrue, _it wasn't the main reason she was there, standing in the open while the two sibling exchanged their goodbyes. She only came here to... observe how her owner was acting and analyze it for real.

Right now Jaune was firmly in his 'younger brother' mode. There was no coldness he exhibited when dealing with Blake or Goodwitch and there wasn't as much condescension as he showed when dealing with the students at the gym.

This wasn't weird by itself. Everyone acted differently when faced with different situations and people. Even the rudest humans Ruby met were decently nice to their friends and family. But the recent realization she had made caused her to be suspicious. Unsettled. Unwilling to take anything she saw at face value.

"I won't be coming here for a while." Saphron stated. "But maybe you could visit us some time? We have a room to host some extra people if you want to take some friends with you and Argus is just a great place to hang in."

"I have a busy schedule, Saph." Jaune replied. "More now than ever before, perhaps. But I will visit you if an opportunity comes."

"So generous of you." Saphron remarked, but the smile on her face showed she meant no spite. She pinched Jaune's cheek - an act which was met with recoil, but a moment too late - and then turned back towards the car. "In that case, see you when the opportunity comes."

"See you." Jaune nodded.

Before reaching the vehicle, Saphron stopped for a moment as she neared Ruby. She casually ruffled the faunus' hair - Ruby did not recoil, but only out of politeness - and then entered the car at the driver seat. She waved a final goodbye before taking off, car leaving the driveway and rolling onto the street.

Afterwards, Jaune stood motionless in place for quite a long while. He appeared to be contemplating something, utterly lost in his thoughts.

_Well that's a little weird. _Not wanting to be impolite, but still a little worried, Ruby coughed loudly.

"Sorry." Jaune shook his head. "I get lost like that sometimes."

"Not that I have seen. Something's wrong?"

"Nothing, really. I just got reminded of the simpler times. You know what I mean?"

"Kind of?" Ruby wasn't sure if she understood. Technically her time before meeting Jaune was simpler, but definitely not better. But maybe the timespan between meeting him and finding out about all the screwed-up stuff about him counted as simpler? Was it really simpler if all that was different was her own ignorance? Maybe. If something seemed simpler and allowed you to behave as if it was simple, wasn't it simply simple?

"Hey, now you're doing it." Jaune remarked.

"Right. Sorry." Ruby replied, hoping that she wouldn't be asked what she was thinking about. Making stuff up usually came easily enough, but she was hoping to be done with constant deceit now that Jaune's annoying sister was away.

"I guess we can both use a little less thinking." Jaune chuckled. "Let's just go inside now. It's getting cooler."

Ruby nodded and headed towards the house entrance, Jaune walking right beside her. At the very least, she was comfortable with the knowledge that they would be alone now and that no one would arrive out of nowhere to needlessly complicate things.

When they entered they saw Blake standing in the corridor.

Unlike the first time she saw the cat faunus, Ruby was quick to react, her newfound instincts kicking in. She jumped back and prepared to jump sideways as her next dodge, only to realize that there was a wall in the way and there was no danger anyways. She loosened up, but still instinctively took a step closer to the door. Just in case something bad happened and the time to run came.

Jaune wasn't quite as impulsive, though his hand did move towards his hip when the sword would normally be strapped. Once he realized no battle was coming, he sighed loudly. "Seriously? I told you not to do that again."

"Well I would take a front door if not for your little farewell party." Blake replied, not showing an ounce of guilt or even embarrassment. "Nice to see you two, by the way."

"Um, hi?" Ruby wasn't sure what other greeting she could give. 'I missed you' wasn't exactly true, since she felt just fine without cat burglars arriving unannounced and 'Glad to see you too' wasn't accurate either, since Ruby had no idea whether she should be glad yet.

"I mean, I've missed you a little, but you are risking a lot by showing up just like that." Jaune said, closing the door behind him. "Someone could see you."

"That's why I have a disguise." Blake replied, pointing towards her ears. No, not her ears, a huge bow that was now covering them. Ruby didn't notice it because of how much it looked like ears, which probably made it a crappy disguise. "No one would be able to tell if I'm a faunus or not."

Ruby wasn't sure if it was a joke she wasn't getting, or if Blake was just bad at this sort of stuff. Considering that Ruby had always been slow on the uptake and Blake was running around in a black-and-white suit rambling about a faunus revolution, both seemed fairly possible.

"I guess it gives you plausible deniability." Jaune conceded. "Still, why have you snuck in here? Do you have something important to tell me?"

Blake nodded. "A message from the leadership. We are planning a raid and we could use some help from a strong fighter. That being you, of course."

"What kind of a raid?" Jaune cocked an eyebrow.

"We are boarding an SDC transport. A train, driving through Forever Fall." Blake explained. "We considered doing it ourselves, just Adam and me, but we figured we could use an extra pair of hands."

"Why should I participate?"

"Well we don't have that many fighters with auras and regulars would only be good for a mission like that in large numbers. I suppose we could ask…"

"You misunderstood me." Jaune interjected. "Why would I help you in that particular matter?"

Blake's expression turned surprised, only to went blank a split second later, no doubt a conscious effort on her part. As for Jaune, he had this strange, not-quite-blank expression that expressed boredom and irritation, but subdued as to not be too overt. As though he was trying to convey how little he cared and that whatever good will he had was gone.

"I see you wish to haggle." Blake was the first to end the silent staring contest between the two. "But I know you too well. You haven't refused to help us before, not when it comes to saving people. I doubt much has changed."

"Is it about saving people?" Jaune retorted. "I bet there are easier ways to do that than attacking a secured transport. There are thousands of faunus in Vale alone who lack only the courage and the direction to run away. I have convinced a dozen to seek a better fate just two weeks ago."

"Were they sentenced to die in the mines?"

"Was there a cache of dust in the next cart?"

"Probably not. Was there any other motive involved?"

"I have multiple goals, Blake. I have to manage them effectively."

"Do you think helping us here won't serve these goals? Had ours began to clash with yours?"

"Do you think they had?"

"I am I supposed to be following this?" Ruby asked. "I don't mind not understanding stuff, but if there's a session after that I will fail it."

"Sorry Ruby." Jaune sighed. "The White Fang wished to attack a transport, one that is apparently heavily armed. There will probably be some slaves to rescue, but I have... suspicion that the main objective is to get whatever dust or weapons are in the train."

"You are actually telling her things." Blake sounded genuinely surprised.

"I got her in, yes. I didn't tell her about... esoteric stuff, but she knows what the White Fang does."

Ruby nodded. She wondered if she ought to be interested in that whole 'esoteric' part, whatever that word meant, but she figured she would ask later.

"What we do, or what you would say we do?" Blake asked.

"I'm not here to debate you, Blake." Jaune turned back to the cat faunus. "I will not help you with your mission unless there is something for me there."

"We'll owe you a favor." Blake sighed as though in defeat. "Not the White Fang as a whole, but Adam and me for certain. We'll help you with whatever you want, even if it's not tied to the cause."

"Done." Jaune visibly loosened up. No, it was more as though he stopped forcing himself to look stiff, now that he had apparently gotten what he wanted. "Though I am surprised you are authorized to make such offers."

"I am trusted within the White Fang." Blake replied shortly. "You could be too, if you actually committed to our cause."

"If I joined White Fang full time, I would get killed within the first week or two." Jaune smiled. "More likely than not from friendly fire."

"Maybe." Blake shrugged. "In any case, I'm glad you're on board here. I will write down the date and the coordinates somewhere and I think I can get going."

So Jaune would be going out on a mission again Ruby couldn't say she enjoyed these times, waiting alone not knowing how her owner was doing, but she got used to it. At least it didn't look like she would get drafted along this time around.

Actually...

_No. _The Voice of Reason protested. _That is stupid. That is stupid even for you._

_Isn't that what I've been doing for a while now? _Ruby argued. _I'm still trying to prove myself useful, you know? Following Jaune into battle will surely help with that._

_This time he isn't asking you to follow. _Voice of reason pointed out. _And I know you_ _are not looking forward to more combat._

_How do you know? _Ruby shot back. _Maybe I grew fond of it after that fight in the club._

_Are you seriously trying to deceive me? _Voice of Reason sounded bewildered. _I am you! I know everything you do and I know why you like this idea so much._

_Well why are you asking, then? _Ruby mentally cocked an eyebrow.

_I'm not really asking. This whole conversation is merely a projection of the mental processes that take place in your subconsciousness._

_..._

_..._

The Voice of Reason was getting weird. Ruby had to talk with it at length one day and ask it to explain all the complicated words it knew, but right now she forced herself to focus on reality instead.

At the moment Blake was holding a pen and appeared to be looking for a piece of paper to complete a set. Jaune murmured something, to which Blake focused her attention on a drawer in the corner. Soon they would exchange all the information they sought to exchange and part ways. Ruby had to make her request before that - she felt she had a better chance being listened to while Blake was still around.

"I'm sorry." She said a moment after Blake finally found her sheet of paper. "That mission of yours... I'm not sure if I understand it, but..."

"You need something explained?" Jaune looked at her with surprise. Blake also turned towards Ruby, though her face expressed more of a general interest.

"No, it's not... I mean I could use some details because..." Ruby took a deep breath. "Can I go with you?"

A moment of silence followed, as neither Jaune nor Blake were able to give an immediate reply. Ruby felt an urge to take back what she said, but she bit down on it and waited for a response instead.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Surprisingly, Blake was the first one to speak. "As I said, it will be very dangerous, that's why we only strike with our best fighters. Without active aura, you will likely die from a stray shot."

"Um, I unlocked her aura a while ago." Jaune said, though somewhat reluctantly. "And showed her a bit of technique while I was at it."

"You're training her?" Blake's expression was now hard to read. Not because she was trying conceal something as she did a minute earlier, rather because her emotions were genuinely conflicted. "I guess I should have seen that coming, given the history. But you couldn't have taught her _much _during that time, could you?"

"I know some things." Ruby answered the question for Jaune. "I know how to dodge, that's for sure. And I can swing a weapon, kind of."

"Emphasis on the last part." Jaune remarked. "No offense to my student here, but I only handed her a weapon a week ago and barely trained with her since. She won't be able to do much on a battlefield, not enough to truly matter."

"I can survive though." Ruby argued. She wouldn't challenge Jaune, but there was a chance she could change his mind. If a small one. "And if I can survive, I can observe and learn. So that I can get better. Just like the last time."

"The last time your opponents were not aiming to kill." Jaune retorted. "This will be different. We will be facing combat robots, professional military force or both. In any case we can't expect mercy or quarter."

Ruby had a reply to that, but wasn't sure if she wanted to use it. It would sound too hostile, as though she was openly arguing with her master - something she was reluctant to do and which probably wouldn't serve her well in this situation.

Luckily, she wasn't the only one to notice the flaw in Jaune's logic.

"How is getting captured any better than dying on the battlefield?" Blake asked. "For you it might mean just a stay in prison, but for a faunus it's either execution or a reassignment to the mines. A death sentence all the same. If anything, she will be facing less risk on this mission than on whatever escapade you took her on."

"Our escapade was pretty easy to pull off." Jaune argued back. "Here it's different. SDC isn't some small business that can only afford a pair of professional fighters and maybe a dozen thugs. They have an army."

"We have Adam." Blake shot back. "I'm pretty sure that evens out the odds. As long as the girl can avoid getting hit, she will be fine."

Jaune did not argue further. Instead he looked at Ruby with... not disapproval, thankfully not quite, but with clear worry and maybe a little confusion.

"Are you sure you want this?" He asked. "I mean it when I say we can do this without you. Do you think learning something is worth the risk of getting... hurt on this raid?"

"Yes." Ruby nodded, with perfect honesty at that. She really did want to learn, though not necessarily the things Jaune thought she wanted to learn.

She wanted to see how White Fang did things. Whether they matched Jaune's description and they weren't a bunch of bloodthirsty monsters, incompetent baboons or something else entirely. She wanted to see how Jaune operated on what he called a serious mission. More than that, Ruby simply wanted to see how he _acted _around faunus other than her or Blake, around terrorists and killers. That had to give her more of a perspective.

"I suppose we can arrange that then." Jaune sighed, making it clear he wasn't satisfied with that conclusion. "We will have to prepare better than the last time, but it might end up fine."

"Whatever you decide, we will be waiting for you." Blake said, sticking a note to a drawer. "Three or four people, I think we can make it work either way. Though I look forward to seeing how you handle yourself in action, Ruby."

"Yeah." Ruby murmured back. "I look forward to seeing it too."

Blake then departed, using the door this time, but still choosing to disappear randomly rather than walk all the way onto the street. That left Jaune and Ruby alone in the corridor, the silence between them a little awkward.

"So, now that..." Ruby didn't want to say 'now that Blake is away', even though that's what she was thinking. "Now that you had a while to think, are you still alright with me coming."

"Alright? No, I'm really not." Jaune shook his head. "But it's not my choice to make. I just hope you have learned enough to hang around once the shots are fired."

That did not inspire Ruby's confidence.

/-/

The car shook as it drove through the uneven forest ground, having driven off the road about a minute ago. Jaune called it a necessary precaution, which Ruby could easily agree to - if anything, she was surprised they were using their usual vehicle in such a venture. She even asked about it and got a long explanation for why it didn't really matter if they were seen driving off Vale, so long as they would not be seen too close to what would soon become a battleground.

Eventually, they stopped, in a seemingly random spot among the trees. Ruby watched Jaune open the door and exit the car and followed his example a second later, stepping onto the open air.

The forest around her was strange. She noticed it before, but now that she could see it up close it seemed even weirder. For one, the trees didn't seem to be lacking any leaves, unusual given how close the winter was. More importantly though, the leaves were red. Not orange or yellow like their kind tended to be in autumn, but vibrant shade of red, matching Ruby's cloak in its intensity. As though someone had went through the forest and painted each leaf with blood.

"That's Forever Fall for you." Jaune said, seeing Ruby's interest. "The forest looks like that all year, even in the winter. There is something special about these trees, maybe something to do with Dust. I don't remember my biology lessons exactly."

"Mm." Ruby agreed. She didn't really care for the explanation, she was just glad to see a new place that looked nothing like the ones she had been confined to for most her life.

"Hey, don't get lost out there in the clouds." Jaune said, opening a trunk and pulling out two sets of clothes Ruby was already familiar with. "Time to get dressed for the job."

About two minutes later, the two of them wore the same outfits they had during their previous raid. A suit of white with red trimmings for Jaune, a black dress for Ruby and Grimm masks for both of them. What was new was the item Ruby picked up afterwards, a combat scythe with a long chine and a wooden snath - terms Jaune had her memorize so that she could better describe her own weapon. Ruby probably wouldn't get to use it much, not very well at least, but having a weapon at her side felt... calming was the wrong word, she definitely did not feel calm, but it was empowering to some extent.

"I know I already told you this is going to be serious." Jaune said, conveying honest truth. He had mentioned how the mission would be dangerous numerous times by now. " But I want to make sure you remember that, all the instructions I gave you."

"Obey every command I am given." Ruby began reciting, knowing the gig by now. "Do not go on the offense unless specifically ordered to. Touch nothing that looks like it might be explosive. Try to always stay behind someone's back. Try to never stay in front of someone's weapon. If in doubt, dodge."

"Good job." Jaune nodded. "But also... try to mind your words. On the mission, I mean. Don't give away any important information, nothing that hints at a weakness, nothing that hints at anything, really. Better just stay silent."

"Well I'm not going to start talking to our enemies in the middle of the fight." Ruby replied.

"It's not just our enemies I'm worried about." Jaune said, earning a tilt of Ruby's head. "Just remember, we are not friends with the White Fang. Allies, sure, but not friends. It includes Blake and it most certainly includes everyone other than Blake."

"You don't trust them?" Ruby asked, though she supposed the answer was sort of obvious.

"No, no I don't." Jaune sighed. "Don't take it the wrong way. We don't have to worry about being stabbed in the back or anything that direct. Adam finds my help useful and I think Blake still kind of likes me, even if she won't show it. But as you can probably tell, we don't exactly have the same viewpoints on everything."

"What's the deal with that Adam guy?" Ruby couldn't help but ask. "You seem kind of afraid of him. Or you know, I could be imagining..."

"Afraid might be the wrong word. Cautious is better." Jaune adjusted the shotgun at his side and locked the trunk with a thud. "You'll see soon enough. Now let us go."

With their equipment ready and their faces covered, Jaune and Ruby began trudging through the forest. Ruby felt rather uneasy, having heard about the monsters that lurked outside of city's streets. She then chided herself for her skewed sense of fear - she had a huntsman with her and it wasn't like Grimm were the biggest threat she would face this day, even if they were to show up.

_Actually, your sense of fear seems sane. _The Voice of reason argued. _The Grimm are bad. Evil, Dangerous. You totally should fear them._

Despite herself, Ruby kept looking around, scanning the bushes for dark figures that would jump at her and try to eat her face off. There were none, at least until she and Jaune entered a clearing. Then she spotted two, although they were only mostly black and not quite Grimm-looking.

One of them Ruby could recognize right away. Blake looked much the same way as when Ruby last saw her, except her ears were not covered by a bow anymore - it would be sort of stupid to wear what was supposed to be a disguise into combat. Her long hair was flowing on the wind in a majestic manner, that is until she turned around to look at the new arrivals, upon which strands of hair began flowing on her face and obscuring the eyes, much to her immediate annoyance. Ruby made a note not to ever let her hair grow too long, even if she was allowed to.

The other figure was a stranger, and not the friendly looking kind. A tall man in a black suit, lean but not appearing in the least weak. His hair was multi-colored, a mix of red and brown, but Ruby paid more attention to a pair of horns coming out of the man's head, giving him a rather menacing appearance. The Grimm mask, while an expected piece of attire, only complemented the overall picture and a sheathed sword strapped to the faunus' waist certainly did not help.

"Adam. Blake. I appreciate you waited for us." Jaune said, approaching the pair. Ruby trudged behind, somewhat reluctantly.

"I didn't know I'd be waiting for more than one person." The horned faunus, Adam as Jaune addressed him, stepped forwards to meet the blond human. There was no handshake as they met and with the masks on their faces, it was impossible to tell what either of them felt at the moment, only that is wasn't warmth of friendship.

"I thought Blake told you I'd be taking help." Jaune replied.

"She did, but I didn't think you would actually follow through." Adam said neutrally. Ruby couldn't tell if he was expressing admiration or disapproval, he just said it in that leveled tone of his. He then tilted his head to look at Ruby herself. "Ruby, is that right?"

Ruby did not say anything, fearing she would reveal something important just by the act of speaking itself, though she did nod her head in response. No point hiding her name if everyone present knew it already.

"My name is Adam, the leader of the Valean division of the White Fang. A bull faunus, in case you couldn't tell. I am glad to see another one us take up arms and will welcome your help in the coming battle."

"She knows enough to survive on the battlefield, but not much more." Jaune cut in. "Don't expect her to carry the fight."

"She will not have to." Blake joined the exchange. "Between the three of us, I don't think the enemy stands much of a chance. Assuming you feel up to it, of course."

"I am reasonably prepared." Jaune replied. "You two?"

"Gambol Shroud's polished and oiled." Blake nodded. "I even brought a vial of Earth Dust, just in case we need to get unconventional."

"I feel confident as well." Adam gripped the handle of his sword. "I have Wilt and Blush ready and don't expect to get bested by a security force. Though I brought the cocktail as usual."

"Um..." Ruby started, not sure if she was allowed to speak. When Jaune didn't protest, she dared to ask a question that came over her. "We are just going there for the fight, right? We ain't having a party, are we?"

"It's not this kind of cocktail." Blake sighed. "He was referring to a device designed to merge different kinds of dust on activation, resulting in a chain reaction that releases vast amount of energy in a short time."

"Huh?" Ruby asked.

"It's a bomb." Blake clarified.

"Oh." Ruby thanked for the reply. "Does that mean we intend to blow this train up? That sounds kind of, what was the word... counterproductive?"

"It's more of a suicide device." Jaune explained. "Some people cannot afford to be taken alive, either because they feel they have too much sensitive information or they fear their death being made a spectacle. The practice makes sense, though it's too destructive for my tastes and kind of out of place on what is supposed to be a rescue mission."

"I take pride in being prepared." Adam shrugged. "Safety is always crucial."

"Sorry, isn't carrying a bomb with us, like, the opposite of safety?" Ruby asked, not bothering to hide her... skepticism.

"Don't worry." Adam pulled out something from behind his suit. It was a ball with several switches running along its circumference. Otherwise it looked like a solid piece of black metal. "Most bullets will not pierce it. If by any chance it gets damaged, the individual dust pills will explode without causing a chain reaction. Which might hurt, but we have our auras. It will not explode with full force unless I choose to activate it."

"I... I guess that's fine." Ruby said unconfidently. She then realized how this sentence sounded like. "Not that you need my permission or anything. Of course. You're the leader here, or something close to it, of course I don't mean that..."

"It's alright." Adam nodded, though the tone of his voice did betray a tinge of annoyance. "Now. We still have about half an hour before the train arrives according to schedule, but I don't want to take my chances. Let's decide on our codenames and get going."

"Codenames?" Ruby was sure she heard the terms somewhere, but wasn't sure as to its meaning.

"How we will call ourselves during the mission." Adam explained. "Protecting our identities and such. I don't really have much to protect, but I will go by Taurus out of custom. You might want to figure out something as well."

"I will go by Goldilocks." Jaune said. "It sounds dumb, but I've already used all the good ones."

"Bella." Blake announced her choice. "I've been wanting to use this one for a while. It actually sounds good."

"I think I went by 'Red' last time." Ruby recalled how Jaune called her on their last mission. "Is that alright?"

"It's short and sweet, but do you want to draw attention to yourself?" Blake asked. "If humans will hear that nickname too many times, you will start developing a reputation for yourself."

Uh oh. Ruby had no intent to become a known terrorist, even if just by her codename.

"How about 'Rose'?" Ruby suggested. "It's short too and it's not more embarrassing than..." She barely stopped herself from pointing out how silly 'Goldilocks' and 'Bella' sounded. "...other names I could have chosen."

"Not the worst name out there, yes." Adam commented dryly. "Now come. It's about time and we have a mile towards the tracks."

/-/

Few minutes after their initial meeting, the three faunus and one human stood on a hill overlooking a large portion of the Forever Fall forest. Ruby would have appreciated getting to see more of the admittedly pretty landscape, if not for ugly iron tracks running straight through it, ruining the image.

"Blake, do you hear anything?" Jaune addressed the cat faunus. Blake then climbed up the top of the hill and stood still for few seconds as her ears slowly moved as they tried to catch sound.

"Nothing." Blake eventually said, shaking her head. "They must still be far away."

"What now?" Ruby asked. She figured asking questions was okay, since no information was given away, not by her anyway.

"Now we wait." Jaune sighed, sitting down on a patch of grass. "We don't have time to do anything else, less we miss the train."

"That would be pretty embarrassing." Blake agreed, sitting down as well. Adam simply nodded and leaned back against a nearby tree.

Ruby decided to follow suit, but didn't want to dirty her dress, so she picked a nearby boulder as her seat. And so she sat, amidst the silence only broken by the chirps of birds, and only occasionally at that. It was sort of awkward, no one wanting to say anything.

And it dragged. For a minute, then two, then five, then a quarter. Adam and Jaune both stayed motionless and silent, like they were trying to blend in with the trees or got petrified somehow. Blake was pretty calm as well, but after a while started betraying signs of unease, not capable of dealing with boredom quite as well. Eventually, she stood up and walked up to Ruby, spinning the wolf faunus to attention.

"How are you holding up?" She asked, sitting right next to the smaller girl. "Sorry for the boredom. Waiting is a part of every mission, whether we like it or not."

"That's not a problem." Ruby assured. While boredom might have bothered her otherwise, the nervousness regarding the mission itself made it pretty insignificant by comparison. "Um, I'm not sure if I should..."

"Don't worry." Blake replied, her voice more quiet now. "I know Jaune wouldn't have you speak with us unsupervised, but I'm not going to ask about anything important."

Ruby glanced towards her master to see that he was still seated down, still motionless. He must have noticed Blake coming over to Ruby, but he didn't react in any visible way, so Ruby assumed he was fine with that.

"What is it, then?" Ruby finally asked.

"I just wanted to know how you are feeling." Blake shifted a little closer. "I never got to see you in combat, so I don't know if it's like you to be nervous or if you have a reason to."

"You think I'm nervous?" Ruby tried to put a bit of challenge into her tone, but it came out very weak. Maybe because the answer to the question was beyond obvious.

"You certainly seem like it." Blake noted. "You remind me of myself just a few years back."

"How so?" Ruby asked with surprise. She wouldn't think herself similar to the other faunus in any way other than they both had dark hair, animal parts and girly parts and it didn't seem to be what Blake was getting to.

"Back in a day I was... well, I was a coward." Blake explained. "Not saying that you are, it's that i was even worse than you. I had trained for longer before my first real fight and was much more nervous still."

"What changed? Cause you don't look scared now."

"I am. I always am." Blake replied, her expression unchanging. There was no embarrassment in that statement, it was as though she was stating a simple fact of life. "It's pretty silly not to be afraid of pain and death when they are a possibility. But I can manage them easily enough now."

"Can you give me some tips?" Ruby requested. "Cause that sounds pretty neat."

"Sorry, there is no trick to it." The cat faunus shook her head. "I fight because I know I'm doing the right thing. It's all about conviction, and comes with time. With being surrounded by people who share your goals and with seeing these goals unfold. You will acquire it soon enough."

"Yeah. I hope..." Ruby couldn't express just how useless that advice was to her. She didn't really have anything to believe in the way Blake apparently had. Heck, she didn't know what to _think _most of the time.

"But if you are looking for something more concrete, I don't think you will die today. Me and Adam have years of experience in this line of work and Jaune is a certified huntsman. And none of us wishes for you to get hurt."

"Really?" Ruby cocked an eyebrow. "I mean, thanks, but I don't see why you would care."

"Because you seem like a good person who doesn't deserve to die just yet." Blake replied. "And because I do not wish to see a fellow faunus dead. And neither does Adam."

"You sure? He doesn't seem to like me very much..."

"I don't think he dislikes you. That's just his usual demeanor. " Blake came with assurance. "And it wouldn't matter even if he did. Protecting the faunus is what he considers his duty."

"Is that..." Ruby lowered her voice even further, realizing they were approaching a sensitive topic. "Is that what the mission is really about?"

"Yes." Blake replied, her voice just as quiet as Ruby's, but with firmness that left no room for doubt. "Jaune might doubt it, but we really do care about the safety of our brethren."

"Right. I didn't mean to, um, suggest otherwise." Ruby assured her fellow faunus, even though doubt was strong with her in this regard.

"It's alright. But you should know that..." Blake cut off. Her ears twitched and, a moment later, she shot up onto her feet, bringing everyone else into attention.

"Do you hear something?" Adam asked, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Yes." Blake nodded, her voice loud and clear once more. "The train is coming. We should get ready to jump in."

At this point Jaune stood up as well, cracking his knuckles as he did. He then drew his sword, blade polished just enough not to reflect light for fear of blinding someone by accident, as he told Ruby while teaching her how to take care of a weapon. "I assume we go about it as planned. You two move down one direction, me and... Rose the other one. We should be able to clear the whole train quickly this way."

"Are you sure you and her would make for a good team?" Adam expressed doubt. "Neither of you has any long-ranged weaponry and you'll be disproportionately weak in general."

"What are you saying?" Ruby guessed Jaune raised an eyebrow behind that mask of his.

"I suggest I take her and we move towards the back of the train. You and Blake can approach the locomotive, the two of you are more than strong enough to survive. We will meet in the middle once everything's secured."

"That's not how I pictured it, Taurus." Jaune said, almost growling at the faunus.

"What's the problem?" Adam asked innocuously. "I can protect her just as well as you. Better maybe. I can absorb every attack that gets thrown at us."

"You are coming with this now of all..." Jaune cut off. "Bastard."

"Um..."Ruby wasn't sure what to say. She didn't know whose side to take or even whether her opinion mattered in the slightest. Who would she be safest with and did that even matter?

"You better wrap this up soon." Blake warned. "The train's getting closer."

It was true. By now Ruby could hear the sound of an approaching train as well as it echoed through the forest. Actually, she thought she saw a glimpse of something moving behind the trees.

"Fine." Jaune conceded. "But if I see her hurt or gods forbid dead, our dealings will end on the spot. Violently."

"Pretending that's what you're concerned about. Clever." Adam said with a slight smile. Ruby had half a mind to ask for explanations as to what this conversation was actually about, but with the train being almost there, it wasn't the most important of her worries.

"Hey, how are going to get in, exactly?" She asked instead. "Are we going to stop the train in its tracks or..."

"We jump in." Blake said, unsheathing her weapon. She then climbed atop the hill and bent her ankles, as though preparing to launch herself into the air. "Just be sure to time it right."

"Wait, you don't mean that..." Before Ruby could say 'literally', her three companions jumped off the ground and soared upwards, then downwards towards the ground. Or, more specifically, the speeding train.

Ruby didn't decide to follow them. Had she had a chance to make a conscious decision ,she would probably have hesitated and got left behind as a result. As it was, her desire not to be left alone in a Grimm-infested forest drove her forwards and convinced her to jump off only a second after the rest. She didn't register what she had done until she was high up in the air.

Even then, she didn't really have the time to analyze her decisions. She was too busy falling, the wind ruffling her hair and muffling even the noisy train below. Ruby maintained just enough of a mental presence to activate her aura before the inevitable fall, something that proved immensely useful one she impacted the carriage. Without aura, Ruby was sure the fall would have broken her legs, if not worse. As it was, it only blew the air out of her lungs and slightly bent the steel she landed on.

"You alright?" Ruby could barely hear the voice through the noises around her, but she could recognize it belonged to Jaune. With a grunt she stood up - it was sort of surprising she could pull it off on top of something so fast-moving - and nodded her head.

"I'm fine. But..." She looked around, not seeing anything other than two other faunus on the roof of the carriage. "How do we get in?"

"That's easy." Adam was the one to reply. His hand went towards the sheath on his hip, but instead of drawing his sword as Ruby expected, he somehow _shot it out of the sheath _and into his hand. It was a curved kind, different from most Ruby had seen, and with a blade that had been painted vibrant red, or maybe just made out of some strange red metal. Immediately afterwards, the horned faunus began hacking and slashing at the steel that made up the carriage's roof. Blake and Jaune followed, each quickly smashing themselves a nice hole of their own.

"I'm not sure if I can to that." Ruby said. "Can I have one of your holes?"

"The metal isn't that tough." Jaune replied, taking a step back as though preparing to jump. "But you can go behind me if you want."

Ruby nodded and approached the opening as well. Blake and Adam took positions as well, the latter sheathing his sword while he was at it and, with the other hand, holding up three fingers. Then two. Then one.

_They jumped on the train without a signal but do a countdown for this? _Ruby thought, but didn't have the time to ponder on that or ask any question. On signal, all three fighters jumped down and into the interior of the carriage. Ruby followed right behind Jaune, descending into the darkness.

Once she landed, Ruby found herself in a largely empty room, lit only by the light coming out from the ceiling. At least initially, as several red lights soon blared, allowing Ruby to see a little more... including where the lights were coming from.

Six silhouettes surrounded their group, all of them of the same shape, size and material. They weren't humans nor faunus, but creatures made of black metal, with red highlights running along their bodies and with weapons for arms - each one appeared to have a gun in place of one hand, a blade in the other.

Robots. Ruby remembered seeing some of these on illustrations somewhere, but couldn't recall where due to the imminent threat taking up all her thoughts. As one, the robots pointed their arms, or rather machine guns, at the group of intruders.

"_Intruders_." They all said in a strange, distorted chorus that echoed through the room. "_Identify yourselves._"

For a second, Blake Jaune and Adam stood there with eyes scanning their surroundings. It made Ruby even more afraid - had they not expected this kind of resistance? Was that not part of the plan? Did they think these things would be too much for them?

And then they rushed forward.

They did not move in perfect synergy or anything, at least Ruby did not think so. They simply all decided, as though each of their own accord, to attack the robots surrounding them. The drew their swords mid-charge and struck the dark metal split seconds later. Ruby instinctively focused on Jaune and saw Crocea Mors cut one robot deeply in the torso, then move up to block a strike from another one. Jaune then used his left hand to punch his opponent, not visibly damaging the robot but sending it a step backwards, only to slash at it horizontally, cutting off its blade-arm and digging deep into its mechanical body.

Adam and Blake were done with their picks even faster. Ruby wasn't tracking them too carefully, but she suspected it wouldn't have mattered even if she had. They were both little more than blurs, moving from one robot to another and leaving each of them in pieces. There was only a single gunshot to be heard before all of the mechanical creature lied on the floor, irreparably damaged from the looks of it.

"Strange." Adam remarked, sheathing his sword once more. "I expected at least a dozen of them to face us right away. These old generation models aren't exactly expensive."

"Wait, you face things like that all the time?" Ruby asked with disbelief. "You expected more of them?"

"Atlesian Knights are not that big of a deal." Blake replied, her sword still gripped in hand. "You saw it yourself. They might look all scary, but they fall apart fairly easily and their AI isn't that great. Humans are usually a bigger problem."

"Do we expect to see any then?" Ruby kept asking. "Humans, I mean. It can't be just robots manning the train, can it?"

"There will probably be some humans to face as well, yes." Adam nodded. "That's why we have to keep moving. Don't give them the time to prepare."

"I'll be heading for the engine then." Blake agreed, walking up to one of the exit hatches. "Jaune?"

"I'm coming." The huntsman replied, following the cat faunus. Before exiting though, he turned back towards his fellow intruders, or rather towards Adam specifically. "Remember what I said earlier."

Adam nodded silently, prompting Jaune to finally take an exit. Ruby was left alone in a dim-lit carriage, with a fellow faunus she was specifically told not to trust. It didn't exactly help her already strained nerves, but she resisted an urge to ruin the entire plan by following Blake and Jaune instead.

"So, we are going the other way?" She asked for clarification.

"As I said." Adam turned around, approaching the other exit. "You can stay behind. It will be safer for both of us."

"Sure." Ruby agreed, quite eager to try that arrangement. She followed the bull faunus as he passed through the hatch, then another one, straight into yet another carriage.

This one really was empty, no killer robots or anything like that. There was a carton box in the corner and some garbage lying around, all of which Adam easily ignored and kept moving forward, towards yet another passage.

"Hey, um." Ruby had decided to break the silence that persisted, remembering she had a question to ask. "What do you think my... what do you think Jau... Goldilocks was afraid of? You said he was pretending to be concerned about me being hurt, didn't you?"

"Not precisely." Adam replied. "I am sure he doesn't want to see you maimed or killed, but that wasn't why he didn't want us to venture together. Really, I thought it was obvious."

"Not to me." Ruby shook her head. "What is his deal, then?"

"He doesn't want me talking to you." Adam sighed, pushing another hatch open. "Afraid I would somehow change your outlook or things, or maybe reveal some inconvenient facts. Maybe I would try to, if we had more time."

"You think he is lying to me?" Ruby didn't know if she was accusing the bull faunus of something, or whether she was genuinely asking. She did want to know more about Jaune and whether or not he was being honest with her... but in a way she wasn't sure if she truly did. She feared the answer.

"Not necessarily." Adam replied, pushing his way into the next carriage. This one had several crates lying around, but no hostiles still. "I just don't think he wants you to know everything you should know. That he doesn't have your best interests in heart."

"Why do you think so?' Ruby asked, feeling awfully cold all of the sudden.

"It is obvious from the way he's acting." Adam opened one of the crates, frowning when he apparently didn't like the result. "Nothing valuable. They are surprisingly poorly stocked."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Ruby insisted. "How is he acting, exactly?"

"When we were arguing about who gets to accompany whom, he didn't ask you for your opinion." Adam pointed out. "He didn't care what suited you, he just wanted you nearby for the sake of it. Or for his own sake, rather."

"Maybe he just doesn't think I can decide on stuff like that?" Ruby felt a need to offer another explanation, one that sounded nicer. "I mean, he is kind of right. I barely know how to fight and I don't know any of you, no offense."

"Perhaps. And yet..." Adam cut off, falling silent all the sudden. Now that they stopped talking, Ruby could hear some noises other than the ones that the train continuously made. They were coming from the next carriage and they were definitely made by people.

"They gathered here to make a stand?" The bull faunus wondered out loud. "That might be inconvenient."

"What do we do, then?" Ruby asked.

"Inconvenient doesn't mean hard." Adam replied, heading for the hatch. "Just keep your aura up. I think I can handle whatever's inside, but a little distraction won't hurt."

"You want me to distract them?"

"Just go there with me so that they have to targets to focus on." Adam was now standing next to the final hatch, behind which the danger awaited. "You don't have to actually attack, though I would appreciate it."

"I'll do what I can." Ruby said. She was willing to help, it was still her role, but she wouldn't be making any promises.

"Excellent." Adam stood in place for several moments more. He then took a deep breath and, in on swift motion, unlocked the hatch and pushed it open, entering the carriage.

Four guns fired immediately. Ruby saw that each of those belonged to a person in a white uniform, four fairly buff men aiming to kill the intruder. They were arranged in a semi-circle before the hatch, so that there was really now way to dodge all of the bullets if you entered the carriage in this manner.

Adam did not try to dodge. He shot his sword to his palm, the blade intercepting two bullets as it flew and, curiously, flashing red as it did so. One of the other bullets scratched Adam's shoulder, taking maybe a small bit of his aura, and the other missed completely, though it almost hit Ruby by accident.

Overall, not a great first valley of shots. Before any of the man could pull the trigger again, Adam charged, jumping towards one of the guards and hitting him in the face with a hilt of the sword, after which the unfortunate human fell back and onto the floor. The others reacted surprisingly non-panicky, one of them jumping backwards to gain distance, the other one pulling out some sort of a blade and slashing at the bull faunus. Adam parried rather effortlessly, but it did require him to pause his assault, at least for a moment.

As for the last guard, he found himself another target. Namely, Ruby. As a gun got aimed at her, Ruby suppressed the instinct to dodge sideways - falling off a train would be rather painful, she imagined - and knowing there was no point backing away, she ran towards her opponent instead.

For someone without a day's worth of training or without working aura, running towards someone with a gun could seem stupid, but Ruby knew it was probably her best option. As the gun fired and the bullet flew towards her, Ruby ducked to the ground, rolled on it and jumped to her feet as the projectile passed her. Proud of her dodge and with momentum on her side, she rushed towards the guard as she...

Then the stink hit her. A horrible odor that filled the carriage, that she couldn't feel earlier due to the strength of the wind outside, assaulted her nostrils with immense strength. She soon realized what was the source, which only made things worse - while it hadn't been visible from the outside, the back half of the carriage was filled with people sitting or laying on the floor, some of them cowering behind what little cover the room could provide. There were maybe ten of them, no more than a dozen, but they had gathered up in corners so that some of them were literally lying on others. Ruby could see some of them had animal trait such as tails or horns, and all of them appeared to wear chains on their legs. The caboose was filled with slaves, all restrained and crammed into a small space.

The sensations were enough for Ruby to lose her focus. Instead of attacking the guard, she simply ran towards him driven by momentum, to which he replied by hitting her in the face with a barrel of his gun. Ruby maintained enough presence to put her aura up, but the blunt hit still knocked her back a step and gave the guard enough time to aim the handgun once more.

Forcing herself to attention, Ruby pushed herself off the ground to her right, dodging the shot that followed. Realizing that the distance was just about right, she fought an urge to seek cover and drew her scythe instead, following with a strike.

It wasn't a good strike. It was clumsy, even for her, and she had no doubt someone like Jaune would have dodged it and chastise her for the lack of precision. But the guard before her likely wasn't trained in that sort of combat and, lacking aura, didn't have quite the speed needed to instantly dodge even a clumsy attack. The chine grazed his shoulders, causing him to fall back not from the force of the blow, but rather out of shock that surely came with the wound.

Ruby expected him to either surrender or keep shooting, if his arm wasn't damaged badly enough. Instead he took several steps backwards and picked up one of the curled-up figures from the floor. A girl, redhead with deer-like antlers growing out of her palm. She was looking pretty poorly, so slim she was probably half-starved and most definitely terrified now that she had a gun pressed to her head.

"Drop your weapons!" The guard shouted. "And I mean both of you."

Crap. If that mission was about rescuing the faunus from the train, wouldn't letting one die count as a failure? But then again, giving up now would be a failure too, an even bigger one. They couldn't exactly wait for reinforcements to arrive, as that wouldn't change anything and might prompt the man to fire... or would it? What was his plan for this? Maybe he was just bluffing?

Not sure what to do at this point, Ruby turned towards Adam in hopes of getting some instructions. He had just finished kicking the last guard unconscious, all three of his opponents prone on the floor. He turned to look at the last human and his hostage, face expressionless.

"One move and I'll shoot her!" The guard shouted, pressing the barrel to the girl's skull. "Don't even try to..."

Adam then drew a rifle and shot the man.

There was no suddenness to this motion. It wasn't slow, but it wasn't impulsive either. Adam showed no hesitation as he aimed the gun and pulled the trigger and if he felt anything as the bullet struck, shattering the skull and spraying brain matter, he didn't let anything show either.

Ruby, on the other hand, was somewhat shocked. Partially because she didn't quite expect that turn of events, but mostly because well... it was a rather graphic kill she had just witnessed. She expected something like that could happen, no one told her that she would never have to see anyone die on a mission like this, but there was something unpleasant about seeing something like this up close.

The deer faunus seemed even more affected, or maybe just heavily impacted with the stress of it all. She fell down on the floor limply along with her captor and quickly began crying in spasms.

"Don't fear." Adam said, the tone of his voice a tad bit warmer than usually. "Nobody should be afraid of us. We came here to save you and we will take you to a safe place, if you will so that is."

There was no response. The other faunus were nervously peeking from their hiding places, none of them willing to say anything or approach their rescuers. Some failed to react at all, maybe dead asleep, or maybe... unable to react for other reasons.

Adam didn't seem surprised, or offended. He opened his mouth to say something else, but then he was almost toppled down, as did Ruby as she felt a pull backwards. The train had stopped.

"The others have completed their objective." Adam murmured, before adding loudly. "We will be back soon. If any of these three wakes up, you may restrain them or kill them. Actually, you may kill them anyways if that suits you."

Then, as if considering his task done and complete, the bull faunus turned around and marched out of the caboose, back towards the front of the train. Ruby glanced back towards the imprisoned faunus, thinking of what she could say or do, but not seeing any clear answer she turned around and followed Adam instead. She was more than happy to leave this stinky room, now with a corpse inside.

"That was, um, something." Ruby said as they passed to the next carriage. She felt like she should discuss what just happened, but couldn't find any fitting words.

"Are you going to say that I was wrong to shoot that human?" Adam asked, not stopping for a moment. "Or that I should make sure that the faunus inside won't hurt the other three out of vengeance?"

Ruby considered. She thought about the man Adam killed, how life left him as the bullet pierced his skull. She then though a moment back to how he was threatening to blow a girl's brain out himself, and how he would fight to keep a group of faunus imprisoned, possibly worked to death later on.

It was hard to feel sorry for him. Or for any of his friends for that matter.

Ruby shook her head. "I get that you did what you had do."

"Thank you." Adam sighed. "I half expected you to take issue with killing slavers. I'm glad you are that sane, at least."

"No problem. But, um..." Ruby remembered there was something that surprised her, something that could be worth asking a question. "Were you not afraid that he would pull the trigger? I mean the guy who was threatening to shoot that deer girl."

"He wouldn't." Adam replied shortly.

"And you knew that because..."

"Because I would shoot." Adam explained casually, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But you didn't know if you would be faster." Ruby pointed out. "I mean, if you thought so then you were right, but how could you have been..."

"You do not understand." Adam sighed, stopping in his tracks. "Let me ask you something in return; What would have happened have I not killed that human?"

"I don't know... but I guess it would be worse than what we have now." Ruby replied.

"Precisely. You might think me heartless because of this, but you never want to look out for the hostages. _Never_. It just encourages the enemy to use them more and more, until you cannot do anything because you are afraid one of yours will suffer. That man only resorted to taking a hostage because he was desperate and it didn't work out for him. His death will deter the others."

"And so situations like that will not happen anymore?" Ruby guessed.

"Essentially. The important thing is to not hesitate or give in to coercion. Only negotiate when you are offered something you want."

"I think I get it." Ruby replied. Adam was apparently satisfied with that, as he fell silent once again and resumed walking. Ruby followed, thinking about the things she just saw and heard.

The White Fang... Ruby still didn't have much to go off, only having seen two of their number, but they seemed surprisingly sane. Adam hadn't butchered all the humans out of murderous hatred, nor did he give up once a fellow faunus was threatened. He seemed actually dedicated to saving the faunus, without being particularly stupid at that. A bit ruthless, maybe, but a step down from what Ruby had been afraid to see. And if he was the leader, than the rest of the group couldn't be that far off, right?

That didn't mean the White Fang were _right._ Their final goal was still unachievable and, for all Ruby knew, they could be making things worse for the faunus in the long run. But that didn't really matter to her. The important thing was, Jaune wasn't allied with crazy evil people, which meant he was less likely to be crazy evil himself.

Of course if Adam was to be taken seriously, Jaune was not exactly the most honest or caring person ever. Was he though? He was definitely biased against Jaune, and Jaune told her as much, but Jaune was also biased against Adam which meant... something. Ruby wasn't sure what.

There just weren't any straight answers. Not yet.

Having passed through the carriage they originally broke into, Ruby and Adam walked into an open platform. Normally, Ruby guessed, it would be used to place containers that didn't go in any of the closed compartments, but right now it was as empty as most of the train was. Aside, that was, from to figures who walked onto the platform from the opposite side.

"Are two alright?" Jaune asked, walking towards the other part of the group. Blake marched at his side, neither of them seeming hurt or even all that tired.

"I got hit in the face, but I guess I'm fine." Ruby replied.

"There was a small unit of guards we had to deal with." Adam explained. "Guarding a group of faunus, ten or so. We won easily enough."

"Only two combatants on our side, plus the conductor and his assistant." Blake said. "We nicely convinced them to stop the train and to let me restrain them."

"That's it?" Adam asked, sounding surprised and perhaps worried. "Half a dozen Atlesian Knights and as many humans? This wouldn't stop any of us alone."

"It's not like they had much to defend." Jaune pointed out. "You say you found ten slaves in the caboose. Anything else?"

"Ten enslaved faunus." Adam corrected. "But no, there were only some spare parts lying around. No Dust, no weaponry save for what the guards had."

"We haven't found anything either." Blake replied. "Most carriages were empty, or it seemed so anyway. Perhaps they have something hidden, but I really doubt there is anything particularly valuable on this train."

"That only makes it weirder." Adam shot back. "I know how SDC transports normally look like. It's just like them to stuff dozens of faunus into cramped spaces, to make the transport as efficient as possible. But this train has nothing valuable on it."

"Except us." Ruby remarked, only to have everyone's eyes get stuck on her a moment later. "Sorry for interrupting. Go on."

"No, you go on." Blake requested. "What do you mean we are valuable?"

"I mean, you guys are all wanted terrorist as far as I know." Ruby replied. "And if someone wanted to catch you, setting up poorly guarded bait would be one way to do this. But I know you thought about this already."

There was a long stretch of silence, in which Ruby wondered had she said something wrong.

"It does make some sense." Jaune said slowly. "We might very well be considered worth the hassle."

"No it doesn't." The cat faunus disagreed. "I agree it would be a smart move, but the SDC would have no way of knowing when..." Blake cut off, as her ears began twitching again. She then looked towards the horizon, bringing everyone's attention there.

There was a shape in the sky, black and contrasting with the clouds. It seemed small now, but was getting progressively larger, as though approaching them at fast velocity.

"A chopper." Adam guessed. "Looks like you were right here, Rose."

"Is that a problem?" Ruby asked, clutching her scythe nervously. "That chopper thing, I mean."

"If it's just it, we should be able to get by." Jaune replied, unsheathing his sword. "We don't have any truly long-range weapons, but an aerial vehicle without ground support isn't worth all that much."

In this very moment, one of the carriages on the front side had its wall blasted off. Or, more accurately, kicked off by a colossal creature that crawled out of the darkness. It was made out of the same kind of black metal as the Atlesian Knights, but it was far larger and lacked their humanoid form, looking like a spider with a human torso instead. It was mounted with multiple cannons, one on the end of each hand and two larger attached to its shoulders. It was apparently perfectly capable of walking along the platform with its four legs, as it was approaching the group at a rather steady pace.

"We haven't searched hard enough, I guess." Blake said, seeming somewhat embarrassed. "But at least our melee weapons will come in handy too."

Ruby sighed.

The spider droid charged.

* * *

**Well that was a long chapter. Longest in this story so far, I think. I considered breaking it up, but couldn't find the right place to pause, so I settled for this cliffhanger instead.**


	10. Masks

If there was one thing Ruby had acquired real experience in, it was dodging. She had it implanted in her head over and over again and even got to test her skills in actual combat more than once now. She knew how to dodge melee attacks of all sorts, bullets, rockets, arrows, just about everything she could have thought of few minutes ago.

A giant spider attacking with metal claws while bracing cannons, however, was a bit out of her range of skills. It made her a little worried, to put it very mildly.

"Fall back!" Jaune yelled, barely avoiding getting pinned down by the metal leg. Ruby was eager to listen, pushing herself off the ground and landing on the other side of the platform. Adam and Blake did the same from the looks of it, dodging the threat with far less effort.

Unfortunately, gaining distance meant that they were now in the range of the cannons. The robot promptly took advantage of that, aiming all four of these in the direction of the group.

Ruby instantly switched from the melee to the ranged mode, preparing to dodge the incoming barrage. The moment the projectiles left the barrels of their respective cannons - they were some strange energy beams rather than the conventional bullets Ruby had to deal with most often - the girl launched herself into the air, her jump tilted to the right so that she wouldn't land at the same spot she started at. It allowed her to dodge all the shots, including one that seemed to have been aimed at her, and landed safely two feet or so from the edge of the platform.

Everyone else seemed to have gotten lucky as well. Jaune ducked onto the ground to shoot up a split second later, letting the beam fly well over him. Adam rolled to the side, dodging the shot and assuming an upright position quickly and seamlessly, his eyes focused on the threat all the way through. Blake did... something that messed with Ruby's eyes, as the beam seemed to have hit her at one point, but at literally the same moment Ruby could see the girl stand uninjured at Adam's side. Something to do with her semblance, probably.

"Lots of firepower there." Jaune remarked as he drew his sword and assumed a defensive stance, as though waiting for the droid to attack. It didn't, backing away instead as though it thought to add some distance for whatever reason.

"I wonder what its defenses are like." Adam said and, without any other warning, rushed towards the droid unsheathing his sword along the way. He looked like a black blur as he ran and became only slightly easier to track once he began attacking his target, slashing at the robot's legs, cannons and torso alike.

To no effect. If there was any damage done, or any scratches for that matter, Ruby couldn't see them. The spider droid only reacted once Adam was in front of one of its legs, upon which it hit the bull faunus with said leg, launching him several meters backwards.

"The defenses look strong." Blake snarked.

"There must be a way around that." Adam scrambled to his feet. "If I can absorb just one of its shots I should have enough power to..."

"Watch out!" Jaune interrupted, though for a really good reason. Turned out the chopper hasn't forgotten about them and was rather dangerously close with its own set of guns. These were what one would call 'miniguns' – a weird name considering how freaking large these things were. As far as Ruby recalled they weren't exactly accurate, but the sheer amount of bullets coming out of them could become a problem.

"Get inside!" Adam shouted, right before a barrage of bullets drowned out everything else. The three faunus and a human turned back and ran towards the caboose as one, though not before the first cartridges of the volley managed to reach them.

Ruby felt one of them hit her shoulder. Not graze, but hit it dead center, causing dull yet strong pain. For a split second Ruby felt a surge of panic at getting hit, but then she remembered that she had her aura active and that it wouldn't get depleted by one shot. She forced herself not to pay said shot any attention, and instead focused on getting inside before the guns scored more hits on her.

She arrived on place second-to-last, Jaune following right behind her. Adam and Blake were already inside, both trying to appear calm, both not quite succeeding.

"This should be solid enough a cover." Jaune said once he caught some breath. "Enough to even out the odds somewhat."

"These odds are still not good!" Blake exclaimed. "A giant combat droid with air support? That's not a fight I would normally take."

"Can't we just run?" Ruby suggested, more willing to contribute to planning now that planning actually mattered to her survival. "Run and hide somewhere in the forest?"

"And leave the faunus we came here to rescue?" Adam objected. "I don't think so. We have to stay and fight."

"Agreed." Jaune nodded to that. "It probably wouldn't work that well anyway, with the chopper on our tail. We should keep the fight here, we just need to plan things…"

A banging on the wall could be heard. Well not exactly banging, more like the exact sound a freakishly strong robot arm would make if it was hitting the steel wall, bending the metal in the process.

"Not much time." Adam stated the obvious. "Me an Blake should go for the helicopter, you two take care of the droid."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Jaune argued. "I don't think we have the strength to just take this thing down."

"And you don't have the firepower to do _anything _to the chopper." Adam retorted. "Just hold it off for long enough and then we can gang up on the droid. We will defeat it together somehow."

"Sounds good to me." Blake agreed, seemingly eager to get going.

"I guess it is a plan…" Ruby was not keen on the idea herself, but something told her that if they did not come to an agreement soon, things would take a turn for the worse and would end with someone, possibly everyone dead.

Jaune muttered something under his breath. He then gripped his sword tightly and changed his stance. "So be it. Just don't take too long you two."

By now the wall was barely holding out. They couldn't afford to chat much longer, lest they would be stuck fighting the droid in a space too small to perform any real maneuvers in.

"On three?" Blake suggested.

"One." Adam braced his weapon, reminding Ruby to do the same. "Two."

_Don't let the fear paralyze you. _Ruby thought as she prepared to rush over to the door. She was afraid, more than she was for quite a while and in a way she never really was before, the fear of dying within the next minute. But she knew, through some instinct of hers, that she couldn't let that fear overtake her. She had to fight.

"Three." Adam dashed forwards, and so did Blake and Jaune. Ruby did her best to keep up, though willing to fight or not, she wasn't quite as fast. She was the last one to run through the passage, straight into the firing range of a giant robot.

Luckily, the droid didn't have time to aim properly. All three faunus and a human dodged the volley of lasers and ducked between the spider's legs, for a moment finding themselves beyond the reach of any attack.

Jaune capitalized it by driving his sword into the machine, the stab penetrating the steel in a way a quick slash could not. As in actually feeling pain, the droid reacted by bending its legs and jumping back, landing near the edge of the platform a moment later. Hurt, but apparently not to the point of breaking down. It focused its attention on Jaune and Ruby and while it had no facial expressions, something about the way it's head glowed red made it seem angry, if not downright hateful.

Ruby glanced sideways for a moment to see that Adam and Blake were running along the length of the platform. The chopper seemed to be following them, keeping its guns pointed at the two faunus and likely preparing to fire. That was good, cause it meant that at least that part of the plan was going well... as much as fighting two death machines without a solid idea how to destroy any of them could be going well.

"Just dance around it and dodge everything it throws at you." Jaune instructed. "Maybe you can confuse its targeting systems or something."

Ruby nodded, and then jumped sideways as a canon fired at her. Jaune dodged to the other side and followed with a charge, managing to close the distance and slash at one of the robot's legs.

Sadly, it didn't do very much. Apparently there was something about the way that armor was designed that made slashes less effective that trusts. Maybe that's why Adam didn't have much luck bringing it down. Ruby couldn't really analyze it in detail as she was busy watching the leg strike back, hitting Jaune and knocking him a few meters backwards, all the way to the other end of the platform.

Ruby rushed forward, driven more by emotion than any strategic thought. Only after she made the first few steps did she realize that:

Her master was most likely fine, as his aura could withstand far more than that.

If he was distressed, there was precious little she could do, as she wasn't very strong and her prime strategy relied on avoiding danger.

By stepping forwards, she got the spider droid to focus on her, turning both its face and its guns towards the unfortunate wolf faunus.

"Ruby!" Jaune exclaimed as he saw the all the canons aimed at the new target. Ruby felt a little unnerved as well, but she maintained enough calm to remember that prime strategy of hers.

She dodged the first shot with no effort, she had the time to prepare the jump. By the time she landed the robot was already firing the other canon - that one was a little harder to avoid, but Ruby did manage to fall back in time, letting the beam burn a hole in the floor instead.

Having allowed herself a glance aside, Ruby saw that her faunus companions also had to dodge quite a bit. The chopper rained a continuous stream of gunfire at them, but it couldn't be very precise. Blake was dodging shots with seeming ease and Adam was even able to catch some on his sword, the weapon glowing in the rhythm with his hair. It must have meant something, hopefully something good , but Ruby was too busy dealing with her own machine threat to wonder about that.

"It's focused on you!" Jaune made an unhelpful, but still correct observation. "More than I was hoping it would!"

"I think I've got it!" Ruby yelled back. "I can see where it's aiming, so I just have to..."

Ruby couldn't finish, as right then another beam flew out of the cannon, in the general direction of her head. In response the girl threw herself forward, letting the projectile pass over her by a wide margin. She felt a tinge of pride at having dodged such a shot, a tinge that was quickly replaced by fear as the robot attacked her more conventionally, jumping at her and trying to impale her with one of its legs.

Later on, Ruby would look back to this moment and ponder the flaws in her training. She would come to a conclusion that, while effective in some ways, having Jaune teach her personally left her lacking in some areas. She knew how to dodge most projectiles and she knew how to deal with a human opponent, how to read the movements and predict where the sword would land, but when faced with an inhuman machine, she didn't really had any instinctual response coded. She knew she had to dodge, but her muscles did not, and it cost her a precious split second of reaction time.

Ruby did not realize any of this immediately. She simply saw the droid attack, froze for a moment, and then desperately tried to dodge sideways.

It almost worked. She didn't get hit directly, managing to dodge the metallic limb by an inch, but the sharp tip of the leg pierced her skirt and pinned it down to the floor, dragging Ruby herself down. In a moment, she was lying on the ground, with her own clothing preventing her from getting up and with multiple cannons yet again aimed squarely at her.

Jaune did not cry out. Instead he rushed forwards, bringing his sword down with the momentum to enhance the strength of the blow. For once the swing did something, cutting off a portion of the robot's leg, colored wires now exposed and many of them cut apart.

But the droid did not care. It couldn't feel pain, or maybe it could, but the killing intent was stronger. Whatever damage it took did not prevent it from loading its guns again and it wouldn't prevent it from killing what was apparently its sole target now.

Ruby pulled at her skirt, trying to rip it apart. It proved hard, not just because of how sturdy the material was, but because all her clothing was protected by her aura. If she turned her aura off, she would lose her strength and she would still fail to pull herself free. Was there a way to make aura protect just her body? Probably so, but Ruby didn't know it, she didn't really train with her aura beyond using it to block attacks and that _quite definitely_ wouldn't help her with so much firepower and oh crap it was just about to fire and she was about to die and she couldn't do anything but...

_Dodge!_

Suddenly, Ruby felt light. Very light, so that the mild wind felt like a hurricane that threatened to blow her away. She felt that wind with every inch of her skin... that was not there. There was no skin, no body. There were no eyes either, so she couldn't see anything, yet she still remembered from which direction the shots were coming from and somehow, without legs or arms, she flew backwards, far away from the place where energy then impacted the floor.

Ruby blinked. She now had eyes again, and skin, and all her limbs. She could see the sky, and the train, and the robot that had just missed the shot by a wide margin. Everything was as it had been a few moments earlier, except Ruby was not pinned to the ground anymore and, for whatever reason, there were red petals all over the floor and flying with the wind.

While Ruby lied there confused, Jaune went on the offensive. The droid turned towards the young huntsman, but not quite in time, as Crocea Mors struck another one of its legs. It jumped backwards, but it did so awkwardly, having suffered damage to its limbs and probably some other systems by now. It aimed its guns at Jaune, but didn't manage to load them before Jaune pulled out the shotgun and fired straight at the droid.

It was some kind of a dust round, it had to be seeing how powerful the burst was. The flash was almost bright enough to force Ruby to close her eyes and the droid clearly felt it much worse, as it was hit in yet another leg, almost having it ripped off by the sheer force of the blast.

The robot was still mostly functional. It's guns were still operational and whatever brain it had was probably still working just fine. But it all meant nothing when it no longer had anything to stand on. It stumbled backwards and, failing to catch any sort of balance, fell off from the platform.

The fall wasn't long, only a meter or so, but nothing more was needed. The droid wasn't built to get back up, it's structure simply wouldn't allow it to even when it was still fully operational. It trashed around for a couple moments, before freezing still, as though it ran out of batteries all the sudden. It would feel anticlimactic, if it didn't come with such a relief.

"Are you alright?" Jaune turned to Ruby the moment he knew the danger was over. "I saw you, well, fall apart."

"I..." Ruby had trouble finding the words, as she did not understand what had just happened either. "I'm not sure..."

Luckily, she did not have to come up with words, as anything she could have said would be drowned out in the noise of all the shots that pierced the air. Bullets flew their way, some of them hitting Ruby before she could react, damaging her aura and toppling her to the ground with the sheer impact force.

_Oh, right. The chopper._

In roughly the same moment as the volley ended, Ruby experienced another strange sensation, accompanied by her body glowing weakly and a faint sound reminiscent of a glass being shattered as it fell onto the floor. Even though it was new, she somehow knew what it meant, even without having to figure it out properly. The sign of her aura being broken. Her main defense removed.

Jaune was better off, still standing and his aura still functional. He didn't, however, have any way of damaging the machine that was hovering outside his range, its weapons aimed and prepared to fire once again.

For a second that felt like a minute, he stood there not knowing what to do. Then he stepped forwards, his sword drawn in a defensive manner, apparently hoping to shield Ruby from the next salvo. The gesture was appreciated, but Ruby doubted it would do much - there were too many bullets to just deflect with a blade and probably too many for Jaune to take without losing his aura as well.

Was that the moment they both died? It really seemed like it, since there was no cover nearby and no way for them to damage the helicopter, as its miniguns prepared to fire and...

Got hit by a beam of crimson energy that reduced it to dust in an instant and scattered in the howling wind.

Ruby blinked. She turned around in the direction from which the beam came from to see Adam and Blake run towards her, their weapons still bared but their stances more casual and their attention solely focused on their coworkers.

"I got it." Adam announced, as he looked over Jaune and Ruby. "Sorry I couldn't do it faster. Did it manage to hurt either of you?"

"I'm alright, though it was pretty close." Jaune replied, before turning back towards Ruby. "Did you get hit? I saw your aura break."

Ruby looked over her body, but it seemed like she had gotten away unscathed. "I think I'm fine. But I'm still not sure what was that thing earlier."

"I think I do." A smile crept on Jaune's face. "A strange ability manifesting itself at the moment of danger. Looks like you've just unlocked your semblance."

Ruby blinked. She knew what it meant, she has the term 'semblance' explained to her and told she could expect to unlock one eventually, but... her semblance? Now? "But... is that how it's supposed to look like?"

"Every semblance is different." Jaune replied. "Bursting into petals is somewhat unusual, but that's just for the better. Might give you an advantage in a fight."

Struggling to believe what she was hearing, Ruby looked at her hands. They looked about normal - skin, flesh and bones instead of anything flowery. She didn't feel any different than before she apparently unlocked her semblance, but was she supposed to? And weren't semblances meant to reflect one's personality? How did bursting into rose petals reflect hers? Was her knack for dodging stuff so powerful it manifested as a superpower?

"Congratulations, then." Blake said, ignorant or uncaring for the chaos inside Ruby's head. "Unlocking your semblance is an important event. You couldn't ask for a better moment too."

"If not for that, we would both get roasted." Jaune agreed. "The only reason I managed to kill this thing is that it focused on Ruby... Rose that much. Maybe it thought her an easier target. Atlas is getting better with its robots."

"Not the only thing they are good at." Adam said. "They knew our attack was approaching well in advance, even though we were trying to make it a surprise."

"I suppose that's weird." Jaune nodded. "What about it? You aren't accusing me of..."

"Don't be silly, Arc." Adam cut in. "I don't think you liked being shot at just now, so I doubt it was your doing. No, they must have spied on us somehow."

"You think we have a spy in the Fang?" Blake asked, suddenly looking really worried.

"I only told Bane about it, and I'm sure of his loyalty." Adam shook his head. "Maybe it was a bug, or someone with invisibility semblance, something in this manner. I will conduct search once we arrive back in the camp."

"So is that it?" Ruby asked. "You two go back to your camp to look for worms and we go back to our place?"

"That's not what it... no." Adam sighed, suddenly irritated. "I would ask you to accompany us. It's not out of the question that there is some other trap prepared, and we could use some help escorting the prisoners anyway."

"Intend to sell them for ransom?" Jaune asked.

"I will try." Adam shrugged. "I have to get whatever I can out of this raid."

"Don't worry, it's safe to follow us." Blake came with assurance. "The soldiers in the camp are disciplined, they will know not to attack you. As for... everyone who dislikes you personally, they are far away at the moment."

"Alright then." Jaune replied, before turning back to Ruby. "There shouldn't be any more fighting today, but be careful either way. It takes some time for aura to regenerate fully. Just follow us and remain close."

In truth, Ruby did not wish to spend more time among these faunus of the White Fang. Maybe they weren't as crazy as she once thought them to be, but they apparently had a thing for getting attacked by deadly robots, which was a huge downside in her opinion. Still, she wished to be trekking alone through a Grimm-infested forest even less. "Alright, I'm going with you."

"I'm going to fetch the prisoners." Adam announced. "Blake, go for the faunus. We are taking them all."

The cat faunus nodded and headed for the back of the train, while Adam headed in the opposite direction. That left Jaune and Ruby alone on the platform, this small shell-paved battlefield they helped create.

"That's probably not the best thing to say after you just nearly got killed." The human started. "But you did well today. Congrats."

Despite all her doubts and despite the adrenaline she felt wearing down, Ruby did feel a bit proud. "Thanks. But... um..." She suddenly noticed a problem with their current situation. She wasn't sure how valid her concerns were, but it would feel stupid not to voice them.

"What is it?" Jaune cocked an eyebrow.

"Adam said we are going to lead the humans and faunus from here into the camp. And that camp has to be a while away from here."

"Right. What of it?"

"Are we really going to march through a forest that's full of Grimm with a bunch of humans who hate us and a bunch of faunus that are probably all traumatized? Won't that attract a whole lot of them?"

Jaune didn't have an answer to that.

/-/

They did manage to solve the problem eventually. Adam made a long speech to the faunus in which he promised them freedom and safety, while Blake assured the captives that they would be treated fairly. Ruby doubted either of these groups really believed what they were told, but it did manage to calm their negative emotions, it seemed. Throughout their entire journey - and it lasted a while - they were not attacked by a single Grimm, though Ruby had been wary of dark shadows between the trees. For whatever reason, she was more fearful now than during the battle. Weird.

Maybe it was the weather. Clouds of various shades of grey had gathered above Forever Fall, darkening the forest and giving it more ominous appearance. Ruby worried it would start raining, cause this would make their trek through the forest a lot more annoying, but luckily it didn't quite come to that by the time they reached their target.

Now they were standing on a small hill, overlooking what was apparently the White Fang encampment taking up a clearing. It wasn't very large, only two dozen tents or so, but it still felt like something really significant. Ruby knew there were some faunus who were not subservient to humanity, that escape was not impossible, but to think that there were possibly scores of such faunus down below didn't quite feel real.

"I will go tell the recruits of our victory." Adam said, walking down towards the camp. "Morale needs to be kept high."

"I will listen to it." Jaune stated. "And talk with you once you're done. Blake promised me a favor for assisting you there."

"I've heard." Adam sighed. "But fair enough. Is it supposed to be a private exchange?"

Jaune hesitated for a second, but then nodded. "The less gets out the better. Ruby..." He then turned towards his student. "Can you stay here? I think it might be safer here than in the camp, definitely safer than trying to reach the car alone."

Ruby bit her lip, in equal parts to hide her worry and annoyance. She didn't want to be left alone on the edge of the forest and did not enjoy the idea of being left out of the loop on something that could potentially concern her in some way. From the looks of it though, she doubted she could convince Jaune to just take her along. "I guess I can..."

"I'll stay with her." Blake offered all the sudden. "I can kill any Grimm that comes our way and I don't feel like going to the camp just yet. Might as well do you that favor."

Jaune looked at Blake with suspicion.

"I promise I'm not going to try and recruit her into the White Fang, or talk crap about you behind your back." Blake swore ceremoniously. "Calm down a little. We are not enemies here."

Jaune murmured something under his breath. He then said, louder and clearer: "I will try to make it quick. Should be back in few minutes."

Ruby nodded. Jaune nodded back and followed Adam, who was already walking down the hill, leaving the two girls alone on the edge of the forest.

"So, what is it?"Ruby asked when the other two were far enough.

"What do you mean?" Blake cocked an eyebrow.

"Why did you wish to stay with me? And don't repeat what you said to them, nobody offers to help like that without having something in it for themselves."

"Well that's cynical of you." Blake replied, sitting down on the grass. "But I guess you're right. I wanted to talk with you, finish our last conversation... and have an excuse not to be near those two as they talk things out."

"You mean they argue a lot?" Ruby sat down as well. She felt a little nervous being between a dark forest and a camp full of killers like that, but she would take whatever opportunity she had to fish for info.

"That's putting it mildly." Blake rolled her amber eyes. "They do not get along at all. During missions they at least attempt to keep tempers, but now I expect nothing less than a firefight."

Ruby hoped that last part was a joke. "What is it that makes them like this? Are those, um, ideal differences?"

"Ideological is the word. But yes, that seems to be the main issue. Adam and Jaune have... different ideas on how to do things. And different ideas on what to do, precisely."

"Don't you all want to free slaves and such?"

"Well yes, but there are a lot of things we might differ on. How many people are we willing to kill, who are we willing to kill, where and when to strike... Some arguments are bound to arise."

Ruby thought back to that fight in a carriage, a quick encounter that ended with a one very dead human. She didn't see much of a problem and neither did Jaune if he didn't bother to bring it up, but she couldn't help but feel that if the young huntsman was the one facing those guards, he would have at least tried to find another way. He certainly wouldn't be so... casual about blowing someone's brains out. Or maybe he would be, and the only reason he didn't kill anyone at the Club was so that Ruby wouldn't be scared of him? It didn't seem like the case, but... maybe? How could she tell.

"What are you thinking about?" Blake asked, causing Ruby to snap back to reality.

"Nothing it's just..." Ruby thought how she could breach the topic she was interested in without making it super obvious what she was afraid of. She didn't want to share her doubts openly, she didn't know what Blake would do if she heard them. She didn't _wish _to know what Jaune would do if he found out.

"I guess you are concerned about Adam and what he did today?" Blake guessed and even though it was an awful guess, Ruby nodded her head, grateful for not having to explain her actual thoughts.

"Do you trust him?" She asked. "Adam, I mean."

"Well yes, as much as I trust anyone. Why?"

"I just..." Ruby saw an opportunity to breach the subject in a roundabout manner. "I want to know why you trust him. How do you know he actually cares about the faunus, or about you, or about anything for that matter? That he's not just putting on a mask, other than you know, his actual mask."

Blake blinked. She then contemplated the question for several long moments, as though she never thought of it before. "Well... I'm sure he is putting on a mask. Everyone does. Even when we are not lying about anything, we are choosing what we want to show and what to hide."

"Even you?"

"Everyone means everyone." Blake confirmed. "I am not exactly giving you my life story here. There are some things I don't want you to know, like my childhood, or the tricks up my sleeves, or the kind of erotic books I like to read... though I suppose I could recommend you some good ones..."

"Where are you going with this?" Ruby interrupted, hoping to get the conversation back on track.

"Right. My point is, you can never really trust someone's words, but you can trust their actions." Blake continued, looking not at Ruby, but at the camp below. "Since I've met Adam we have been fighting together, opposing evil humans and freeing faunus. He never endangered me for any reason other than winning the battle, and winning means saving people. Half the people down there were saved by the White Fang, many by the two of us personally. That's why they stick with us, and that's why I stick with Adam."

Ruby could see some faunus scurrying about in the camp, or at least she assumed these were faunus. Only few had animal traits visible from that far away, some probably wouldn't look different to humans unless closely inspected. But they were faunus, faunus who now lived free and were willing to fight to free more, even though they were facing overwhelming odds. Ruby had to admit, it had to take some serious dedication to organize something like that.

But then again, knowing someone was dedicated didn't tell you what they were dedicated _to_.

"But what if his reasons are different than you think?" The wolf faunus asked. "What if he just wants, you know, glory and stuff."

"At this point, I don't think it would matter." Blake shrugged.

Ruby's eyes widened? "What? How can you not care about something like that?"

"Ever heard the saying? If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is most likely a duck. I take that even further; If something acts exactly like a duck, it is a duck for all intents and purposes. I guess it is possible that Adam is hiding some ugly motive, but if it never made a difference throughout all we have been through... does it truly matter? If I know someone well enough to know how they will act, why wouldn't I trust them?"

"I see..." Ruby pondered on that. She supposed Blake had a point, point that did apply to Jaune in a way. Sure, it was possible he had her deceived about something, but could it be anything that _mattered_? If the deception was so good she could never see it through, should she even care about maybe being manipulated?

"I get the feeling it's not Adam you're worried about."

Ruby winced. Apparently she betrayed herself by thinking too hard and too visibly about the problem. She thought of a way to deny the suspicion, but ultimately nodded her head. "I'm not that sure how much Jaune is hiding from me, or how he really feels about me. Can you not tell him that? I think he'd be upset if he heard that."

"Sure..." Blake looked as though she was battling her own thoughts for a moment. "Look, I know I am breaking a promise here, but have you considered... putting your lot with someone else?"

"You want me to join the White Fang." Ruby didn't ask as much as she stated the fact.

"I am _offering_." Blake clarified. "Not even that, really. I'm just reminding you that a possibility exists."

"You really think I'd fit?" Ruby cocked an eyebrow. "I don't feel like a revolutionary."

"You feel like someone who needs some companionship. Someone who is willing to fight and can already do that quite well. I'd say you would be an excellent addition to our group... if you want it that is."

"Should I? I mean, no offense, but what would you have me do? I nearly died today, I probably will die within the first few missions you send me on."

"Not if we train you first." Blake argued. "We have some really good fighters even not counting Adam. I think we can show you everything Jaune could, perhaps more. Even if you decide you don't like fighting after all, we can find you some other tasks to perform. You'd have to pull your weight, sure, but you would be free and with people who have no reason to hate you or to harm you."

Ruby considered. She wasn't keen on the idea of joining a rebel group, but the way Blake was describing it... it sounded good, but was it really better than what Ruby had now?

"And while I don't mean to insinuate anything, you don't have to afraid of what your... master will say." Blake continued. "If you doubt him because you are scared of him, or because you feel you need him, we can take care of that. Providing protection and safety for the faunus is what we are all about."

Was she afraid of Jaune like that? She didn't think he wanted to hurt her, but she didn't know if her current beliefs were anything to go by. If there was any risk, maybe accepting Blake's offer was the right choice... but there was danger in the White Fang as well, wasn't there?

_Review your options. _The Voice of Reason advised._ Calmly._

Ruby remembered what Blake just told her an applied that to her situation. By all accounts, Jaune treated her well. He rewarded her when she behaved, didn't really punish her when she didn't and only hurt her when it meant her getting stronger. She didn't know how he would act if she crossed the line big time, like by attempting to run away or by deciding not to fight anymore, but as long as she steered clear of these things, she figured she would be fine.

What did she knew of the White Fang? Very little, even now. They wanted to free and protect the faunus, though it was probably not their only goal, maybe not even the main one. No, that was the wrong way to think about it. Regardless of what their intentions were, White Fang did make attempts to liberate faunus, though they had interest in weapons and Dust as well. If Ruby joined them, she would most likely be put to this exact kind of work. How she would be treated, she couldn't know. And until she joined to see for herself, she would only have someone's word as information. Words could be deceiving. Words could never be really trusted. Actions mattered.

Ruby took one more look downwards, towards the faunus encampment. Dozens of people she didn't know anything about, fighting a war that she had no reason to think was winnable. She then thought back to a moment just a few hours ago, Jaune attempting to shield her from a deadly attack. She tried to think of a moment that would counter that, something she could be angry at him for, but couldn't manage. The memories of training, even the painful ones, were not enough to sway her. The choice was between going with someone she knew nothing important about, and someone she knew would protect her.

When you put it like that, the choice was obvious.

"I really don't think White Fang is for me." Ruby said, carefully. As soon as the words left her mouth though, she felt relieved, as though lighter somehow. "I think... I think I'd rather stay where I am."

"That's your choice." Blake shrugged, trying not to look bothered. Or at least Ruby guessed she was just trying given the context. "I'm not going to try to change your mind. Really, it might make things more convenient."

"More convenient?" Ruby asked. "In what way?"

"We won't be the ones who have to feed you." Blake smiled, as if to show she didn't really mean it. The smile then faded. "I think I hear them coming."

Indeed, upon turning around Ruby could see two silhouettes climbing back up the hill. She tensed, but then realized they couldn't have heard much, if anything, from that distance and with the humming of the wind in the way. She then simply stood up and waited for their approach.

"You were quick this time." Blake commented, also scrambling to her feet. "Was the fight over in a single strike?"

"You could say so." Adam replied. "My coworker here demanded an information I simply did not possess. We agreed to settle our debts at a later date."

"If you actually gave me all the intel you're getting, we would not be in this situation." Jaune retorted. "But yes, let's leave that discussion for later. I'd rather just go home already."

"If that's all, then farewell to both of you." Blake left Ruby's side and walked away, in the direction of the camp. "I will look forward to our next meeting."

"Yeah, bye Blake." Ruby felt it was proper to respond. She even wanted to thank Blake for helping her with doubts, but couldn't think of a way do that subtly. "I hope we will see each other some time."

"I am certain we are." Adam nodded. "We made too good a team for us to never work together again. I bid you both farewell."

"You too." Jaune replied briefly.

"I'm sure we can handle a minute's walk." Blake replied with a slight smile. She then turned around and began walking towards the camp down below.

Adam soon followed her, slowly descending down the hill. After just a few steps though, he turned around once more, looking directly at Ruby. "Remember what I told you, Rose. You are better off keeping your eyes wide open."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jaune asked, only to be ignored, as the bull faunus strolled down the hill a little more speedily. The huntsman then muttered something under his breath, something that was probably a curse.

"Hey, I don't want what he meant either." Ruby said, being only partially dishonest. She remembered what Adam told her on the train, but why was he bringing that up again? Was it because he was actually concerned about his fellow faunus, or because he wanted to mess with her head for some reason _he _wanted to keep secret?

Didn't matter. Ruby made her choice as to who she wanted to trust and she would double down on that decision.

"I suppose it doesn't really matter." Jaune sighed. "I don't think we will be back here in a while. I'm not helping the White Fang in this manner again until they sort out their security issues. Sorry if you liked working with these guys."

Ruby had to actively hide the extent of her relief. "I don't mind not getting shot at for a while. Can we go now? I think I left the stove on, or something like that."

/-/

The sun had just set by the time they arrived home. Not that it changed much, since the clouds have long obscured that beautiful ball of light and began pouring rain while they were at it. Jaune and Ruby did not waste any time after getting out of the car and hurriedly entered the house, immediately grateful for the roof above their heads.

"I knew there was something I forgot again." Jaune sighed, locking the door behind him. "Next time we go on a field trip like that, remind me to take some coats."

"A little rain isn't that bad." Ruby said, mostly so that they wouldn't fall into awkward silence. They were not talking much on their way home and it felt kind of bad. "It's better than, you know... bullets and stuff."

"I guess." Jaune replied. Instead of saying anything else or walking deeper into the house, he just stood there, either contemplating something or trying to figure out what to say. Whatever it was, it was taking a lot of time.

Great, there was the awkward silence. In all fairness it was probably Ruby's fault - she hadn't thought of it back then, but perhaps her distrust made her harder to talk to. This couldn't stand, if she was serious about staying with Jaune permanently.

She thought of what she could say to break that damn silence. The images and words from earlier this day were still running through her mind, the White Fang and their army, the SDC and their robots, Blake and Adam, red trees of Forever Fall and red petals she could now turn into. None of these seemed like a great topic for a conversation, however, at least not now. Every topic was either too serious, too trivial and they were probably all too complex to casually talk about.

Maybe... maybe she should address the reason any of that happened.

"Look, I'm sorry about... about how all that went." She said, her gaze tilted a little towards the ground. "You said this mission wasn't for me, but I pushed my way there anyway. I should have known..."

"No!" Jaune exclaimed all the sudden. "No, that's not... I should be the one apologizing."

"For what?" Ruby asked, struck with confusion. Was there something she was missing again? Well obviously, but was there a lot she was missing?

"For doubting you." Jaune sighed. "I didn't want you to come with me, I was afraid you would just get yourself hurt or panic at the first sight of a real fight. I should have known better."

"But you were right!" Ruby couldn't understand what her master was on about. "I nearly died out there! It was so damn close and I don't think I was much use anyway."

"That's not fair." Jaune shook his head. "The fight was tougher than either of us could expect. If it was just a few robots like we expected, you would have been just fine. And even still, you helped us win, survived the battle and walked out stronger for it. Now that you have your semblance unlocked, you are on your way to becoming even stronger."

"I guess it can come in handy..." Ruby murmured, still not convinced of her supposed usefulness.

"More importantly though, you were not afraid." Jaune looked at Ruby with not just approval, but something approaching admiration. "And if you were, you fought it back so incredibly well. The first time I faced what could be my death, I was... not quite so brave. You have a reason to feel proud."

"I _was _afraid." Ruby muttered. "But I pushed forward. I don't know how, I don't know if I can do it again..."

"Well I believe you can." Jaune walked even closer. He put a hand on Ruby's shoulder as he had before, but with a little more firmness than usual. "You underestimate yourself, and I mean constantly. You're better than you think in just about every way. You noticed things the rest of us didn't, you unlocked your semblance so soon and each time I doubted you, you've proven me wrong. You should really work on your confidence a little."

She underestimated herself. Ruby couldn't recall anyone saying that to her, not a single person at any point. Could it be true? She felt it wasn't, but it was hard to deny she was doing better than expected she would back when she agreed to become a fighter. Maybe she could become actually good eventually? It wasn't out of the question, she supposed.

"I'll guess I'll keep training and we'll see where it goes." Ruby said, conceding just a little.

"That's the spirit." Jaune smiled. "Just keep this attitude up and..."

A loud sound pierced the air. It was one of thunder, a sharp crack that lasted for little more than a second.

Ruby tensed.

"Looks like we have a storm." Jaune commented. "We are _really _lucky we got home in time. Anyways, I believe as long as you remain brave you can... Ruby where are you going?"

/-/

Ruby was surrounded by darkness, but for once she found it comforting. While she was hardly comfortable, laid over on the hard floor like that, the tight space provided her the feeling of safety she needed more than anything else at the moment.

"Ruby, I don't want to be rude..." The faunus heard the voice coming from somewhere above her. "But don't you think you're being a bit silly?"

"No, why?" Ruby replied, not seeing a problem. Her actions seemed pretty reasonable given the situation.

"You do realize that there is more or less zero chance that a lightning is going to strike us while we're indoors, right?"

"Yeah, which means it might be more." Ruby agreed. "I'm just being careful."

"That's just a figure of... ugh, can you please stop hiding under my bed?"

"Is that an order?" Ruby asked worriedly, somewhat tempted to peek out to see her master's expression. Only somewhat though - she thought she heard another thunder just a few moments ago.

"Well no, I'm not going to drag you out..." Jaune paused, maybe because he heard Ruby's relieved sigh. "I just don't understand why you are acting like that."

"I dunno, it's natural?" Ruby struggled to think of a better explanation for such a simple behavior. If there was a storm, you hid somewhere that seemed safe. This system had never failed her thus far and she saw no reason to change it all the sudden.

"If you were a dog faunus, maybe." Jaune muttered. "Not to be a speciesist, but shouldn't a wolf have more of a backbone?"

"Wolves are scavengers who only hunt in large groups, instinctually submit to pack hierarchy and get easily scared by larger animals, especially humans." Ruby replied, reciting what one of her owners told her. "So I think I've been behaving fittingly."

"That... actually makes a good deal of sense." Jaune admitted. "So are you just going to stay there for the rest of the night?"

"Sure. Want to join?" Ruby offered. "There is still some free space."

"No, I think I'll pass." Jaune sighed. Ruby then heard the bed crack, signifying that someone lied down on top of it. "But I am pretty tired, so... I guess we are sleeping together. In a way."

Ruby relaxed, as much as she could given the circumstances. Which was surprisingly much - the presence of someone she trusted nearby made even the dreadful sounds of thunder less scary.

It took her a moment to realize what it meant. She trusted Jaune. She trusted him again, maybe more than she had before. It was easy, as long as she remembered all the pleasant little moments between them and the sensation of fighting together. Being saved by someone from an evil, robotic spider made trust much easier and remembering Blake's words made that trust feel validated.

"Hey Jaune?" She said, just loudly enough to be heard on the other side of the bed.

"What is it?"

"Will you stay here? With me?"

"Well yes, I see no reason to get up right now." Jaune replied slowly. "Why are you asking? Are you that scared?"

"Not like that, no." Ruby replied. "Not with you here."

"Um, happy to be of help." Jaune then yawned, loudly enough to be heard even down below. "I do need to sleep though. Goodnight, Ruby."

"Night." Ruby replied. After a long while of silence, she faintly heard snoring coming from up above. She then allowed herself to lie down limply as well, sleepiness slowly overtaking her, even in spite of the distant sounds of thunder.

At this moment, she felt pretty satisfied with life.

* * *

**So, I listened to the request for more fluff and used two 'Ruby is a dog' jokes I had prepared. You're welcome.**

**For those who expected that this arc would shake things up significantly, I'm sorry but it's not the direction I had planned. Ruby gets comfortable around Jaune again, though whether she is right to do so is questionable. She also makes some steps towards becoming a full on badass huntress, instead of the 'gimmick-abusing amateur' look she had thus far. I kind of changed her semblance, ditching the 'speed' angle entirely and just making it an ultimate dodging technique. I just figured it fits this version of her character, in an amusing manner.**

**And yes, I am fully aware that some things in this chapter are strange and possibly don't make much sense. Some of them are made that way intentionally, others are just my errors. feel free to point all of these out, if you are into this sort of thing. **


	11. Weird and Weirderer

With practiced ease, Ruby swept the last speck of dust of the tabletop. Having the table neatly clean concluded that part of her duties, leaving her with a bit of free time before it was time for dinner. A chance to rest was definitely appreciated, as while she was not exhausted as she would be after proper hard work or a harsh training session, she was somewhat tired having spent several hours cleaning the house.

As she sat down on the couch, Ruby pondered, not for the first time, how weirdly normal her life had been for the past week. She expected that Jaune would push her to her limit now that she had a semblance to train, but he did just the opposite – said that she should take some time off until he can prepare a specialized training regimen. Apparently, with everyone having more or less a unique power for a semblance, learning how to use those was a little complicated.

In the meantime, Ruby had taken to doing stuff she was originally bought for, that being taking care of the house and preparing meals. She hadn't done that much of either the days before her raid with the White Fang, focusing on learning how to handle a weapon instead. Returning to simpler duties felt somewhat pleasant and almost took her thoughts away from combat and training. Almost.

Even though she still wasn't too keen on fighting in general, the idea of having her own superpower was exciting, even to her. She did some testing an found out that she could burst into rose petals at any time, provided she summoned the feeling of panic she felt while using her semblance the first time. Jaune said that she would likely be able to use that ability at will eventually, but that she should put off testing it in the field until the time was right. Naturally, he didn't specify what was the right time.

"Are you comfortable there?" As though responding to the call, Jaune entered the living room. "Don't get up, I wanted to talk anyway."

"What about?" Ruby asked, watching her owner take a seat next to her. "Are we gonna talk about semblances? Or weapons?"

"No. Well, sort of." Jaune replied. "I couldn't find the right moment to tell you that earlier, but I have invited someone over."

"Another one of your sisters?" Ruby still remembered the annoyance Saphron was. "Not that I have any problem with that, of course. None at all."

"Friends. Ones I'm sure you will be safe with." Jaune reassured. "But I figured I should tell you that because… well, there are several reasons. Not sure which one I should start with."

"Maybe you want to tell them in some order?" Ruby suggested. "Starting from the most important one?"

"Right. Well, the first thing you need to know…."

Before Jaune could even start listing, he was interrupted by the sound of a doorbell. Then the same sound again, and then repeated about a dozen times over, as though someone outside was mashing the button with fury.

"What amazing timing they have." Jaune sighed, before standing up. "Well, I guess you're going to see it for yourself."

"See what?" Ruby got up as well. "And why are you talking like you just got a death sentence? Shouldn't meeting old friends be a happy occasion?"

"It is." Jaune replied as he approached the door. "I just don't enjoy the first part very much."

"What is the first part?" Ruby asked, completely at loss as to what her master was trying to say.

Jaune did not reply, though it did not feel as though he was ignoring Ruby. Rather he acted as though he needed to keep quiet, as though in the presence of some deadly predator, as he took care of the locks and chains on the door. Then, with equal carefulness, he opened the door inwards.

A missile collided with his chest the very same moment, almost faster than Ruby's eyes could register. All she saw was a colorful blur that impacted with Jaune and sent him flying backwards, not giving him any time to react other than by yelping helplessly.

Ruby blinked. When she opened her eyes again, she was able to see the situation a little more clearly. Jaune was pressed against the wall and caught in a hold by a girl in a pink-white clothing and with short ginger hair. Ruby couldn't tell anything about the visitor's face, as it was pressed against Jaune's chest, as though the girl was some sort of leech faunus who was particularly hungry for blood at the moment. As for Jaune, his expression was complicated, but the way his face changed color suggested that he felt, among other things, a need for more air to breathe.

Ruby was at loss as to what she ought to do. The scene looked as cute as an attempt at strangling could look, but it was still, well… an attempt at strangling. Or at least had similar effects. Still, it would feel bad to separate the two… though it would feel even worse to be killed by that girl next…

"May I enter?" Ruby heard the voice coming from behind the door. When she turned around, she realized that the ginger girl wasn't the only visitor.

The other guest was male, tall and dressed in a dark-green tailcoat. His hair was raven black and shoulder-length, not dissimilar to Ruby's, though there was a random pink streak standing out. His eyes were of the same shade of pink, which was a little strange, though no stranger than politely asking to enter in a situation such as this.

"Um, sure." Ruby replied. "I'm sure my master doesn't mind."

"I see you are a… servant here." The man said as he passed through the doorframe. "I think he might have mentioned something of the likes. Regardless, it is nice to meet you. I am Lie Ren, though you may use the last name at all times."

"I'm Ruby, not much choice there." Ruby bit her lip. She never sure what exactly to say when talking with humans, but this one apparently wanted to have a conversation with her. "So, I take it you are a friend of Jaune's?"

"I'd like to think I can call myself that, yes. I was invited, if that is your concern."

"Good to know." Ruby glanced back towards Jaune, whose face seemed to be going a little purple. "By the way, can you tell your friend not to kill my owner? I kind of need him alive."

"I think that's enough, Nora." Ren said, raising his voice just a little bit. He then raised his hand in a gesture of greeting. "Hello Jaune."

The girl released Jaune, letting him slump against the wall and finally catch some air. "Sorry, I got overexcited. I haven't seen you in a long time, Jaune." She spoke with a nasal voice and with impressively fast pace.

Jaune mumbled something that could have been a greeting. Nora, as she was apparently called, turned away from him and switched her attention towards Ruby, causing the wolf faunus to back away slightly.

"I haven't seen you in a long time too." She said, instantly closing the distance between her and Ruby. "A really long time. Longer than I've been alive. I don't think we've met, actually. Name is Nora, in case you didn't hear, not that I'm implying you suffer from auditory issues."

"Hi?" Ruby replied. That was all she could come up with at the moment.

"It's nice to see you are both in top form." Jaune said, scrambling to his feet. "Ren, Nora, that's Ruby. A faunus I've taken in."

"Oh right, you're a faunus. That's nice! I mean, I guess it's not nice for you given the socioeconomic circumstances, but I still think it's kind of cool." A brief moment of silence. "What kind of faunus are you, anyway? A cat? A snake? A sloth? I like sloths, but I will accept you even if you are a snake."

"Wolf, actually." Ruby dared to reply.

"A wolfie?" Nora only now noticed Ruby's tail, one that was currently slightly curved. "That's so cute! Can I pet her?"

"I believe she can hear you, Nora." Ren pointed out.

"Oh right, sorry." Nora amended, before coughing and looking straight at Ruby with a more serious expression. "Dear wolfie, can I pet you? I'd rather you didn't bite, it usually hurts."

Ruby could hear two distinct sighs, both equally resigned. But as much as she was taken aback by Nora's request, she couldn't exactly see any harm it would do. "I guess…"

Once Nora got the consent she wanted, she reached out and buried her hand inside Ruby's hair. She then began to ruffle it, not unlike certain blondes have done before her, but far more energetically. Ruby didn't enjoy it very much, but she wasn't averse to the touch either, which put Nora below Jaune but above Saphron when it came to petting skills.

"Once you're done with… that… maybe we can sit down and eat something?" Jaune offered. "I don't have anything prepared, but there is some food that I can ready quickly enough…"

"You know I won't accept this offer." Ren said with a smile. "Getting to cook something in a new environment is a challenge I cannot resist."

"I can help." Nora offered, pulling herself away from Ruby. "I want to finally test that recipe I came up with."

"I don't think we'll find that many pineapples in the fridge." Ren replied. "But sure, I can use a helping hand."

"We'll join you soon." Jaune promised. "Just give us a moment."

Ren nodded and headed for the kitchen, as though knowing exactly where it was. Nora followed, the two of them soon leaving Jaune and Ruby alone. An awkward silence followed, but for once, Ruby was grateful for it – silence was welcome after that conversation.

"So, these are my teammates, proud members of Team Juniper." Jaune eventually said. "I haven't seen them in a while, but we try to remain as close as we can."

"Yeah, I saw that." Ruby recalled a rather enthusiastic greeting from before. "How much you told them about, you know..."

"You don't have to hide anything from them, if that's what you're asking. They're not involved with the white Fang themselves or anything, but they do know who I work with are fine with that. I have also mentioned I've been training a certain faunus personally, though I didn't want to talk too much about you behind your back."

"Um, thanks. Why are they here right now though? As in, is there any reason I should know about?" Ruby half expected Jaune was calling his friends to assemble a revolutionary army of something like that, and was somewhat afraid she would end up as a vanguard of that army, likely through her own stupidity.

"Once a year we have a little hunting trip. You know, spend a few nights in the wilderness, killing Grimm for the sake of it. And for nostalgia."

"Sounds... fun." Ruby couldn't see the appeal herself. "So, are you leaving today? Haven't told me anything about that."

"No, we only start with the winter holidays, once I can justify closing the gym." Jaune replied. "I didn't expect Ren and Nora for at least a few more days, in fact, but I guess they decided to arrive early. Nice of them. I guess they will know spend a few days in Vale, then we meet up with one other person and we can go hunting."

"Do you expect me to go as well?" Ruby asked, not sure what reply she was hoping for.

"I'd rather leave you to watch the house. I'm not sure if adding another person to the mix would be wise... not that you are not welcome or anything."

"Sure, I get that." Ruby replied. "Just, you know, be careful out there."

"Don't worry, we are all professionals at the end of the day." Jaune said. Then he spoke again, with newfound caution in his voice. "Anyways... what are your impressions regarding my teammates?"

"They seem... nice. Yeah." Ruby said, nodding . "And... nice."

"If you want to say something, say it." Jaune urged. "I doubt either of them can hear you, and if they did, they likely wouldn't care. Neither of them is the type to treat themselves too seriously."

"Well..." Ruby looked around before continuing. "That Ren guy acts weird. He noticed me and actually was, you know... polite when we talked."

"I should have guessed that would weird you out the most." Jaune sighed. "Still, I thought you might get offended by the way Nora acted right now."

"Why?" Ruby raised an eyebrow. "I mean, she's more cheerful than most humans I met, believes in sloths and uses some weird words, but nothing that bad."

"I guess it's for the..." Jaune paused. "Wait, why is believing in sloths a bad thing?"

"Sloths are not real." Ruby stated matter-of-factly. "I wouldn't expect a huntress to fall for the spoof, but whatever."

"What spoof?" Jaune looked at Ruby with bewilderment. Was he also ignorant like that? He didn't seem like the type, but apparently it was so. Odd.

"It's an cop out method of getting out of hard work." Ruby explained. "It only works if you are a faunus without any obvious traits. Someone chews you out for being lazy, you just say you are a sloth faunus and just naturally slow. It's a better excuse than none."

"But sloths are real!" Jaune protested. "They are, like, real animals that live... somewhere."

"Where would they even survive?" Ruby asked. "_How_ would they survive? Every animal has something that gives them an edge, sloths are supposed to be just slow and lazy. No way they wouldn't just go extinct."

"That actually makes some sense..." Jaune said, but then shook his head vigorously. "No, that can't be right. I remember seeing a sloth in a zoo once."

"Was it moving? It could have been just a dummy."

"Well no, but that's the entire... ugh, you are destroying my worldview again. Please stop."

"Okay." Ruby agreed, feeling strangely self-satisfied.

"Point is," Jaune raised his voice a little. "I am glad you are getting along with Ren and Nora. They won't be sleeping here, so they should cause little trouble."

Ruby noticed something. Something awry. "Is everything alright? You seem, I don't know... persistent? You really seem to care about me liking these guys."

"Well for one, I simply want my friends to get along. I'm sure you understand."

Ruby nodded, even though she didn't really see how her not liking any of Jaune's friends would stop those friends from getting along. "And the other reason?"

"Well, part of the reason I wouldn't help you construct your own weapon is that I don't really know how." Jaune replied. "There is a reason I keep using a sword and a standard gun. I was hoping someone else could help you out with that."

"You think Ren could help me forge a weapon?" Ruby's interest was caught.

"I didn't mean him." Jaune shook his head. "You can say a lot about Nora, but not that she doesn't know how to construct weapons. She is genuinely one of the best craftsmen I know."

"Is she?" Ruby couldn't help but doubt. "I mean, she doesn't strike me as very... organized?"

"Oh, everything she creates is crazy." Jaune agreed. "Magnhild is a little overboard even by huntsmen standards. But then again, scythes aren't a practical choice anyway. I'd say she is just right for the job."

For a hundredth time, Ruby cursed her choice of a weapon. "I guess. So, will you ask Nora to help me with a weapon?"

"Actually, I would rather you asked her personally. I'm sure she won't refuse."

"Well she certainly won't refuse you. Why do you want me to do that myself?"

"Well, I figured it could be an interesting exercise." Jaune replied. "It would be good for you to get more confident while talking to humans, or people in general. Become more assertive, you know."

Ruby stared at Jaune.

"Also, I am sort of scared myself." The young man admitted. "I don't want to be too close to Nora as she dabbles with ammunition. Things can get... explosive at times."

For the one hundredth and first time, Ruby cursed her choices as a whole. Still, the perspective of getting some decent weapon was alluring and she was semi-sure Jaune wouldn't send her to someone who posed actual danger to her life. Maybe she should show Nora some trust. "Alright, I'll talk to her about it."

A loud crack could be heard from the direction of the kitchen. "Sorry, forgot this thing doesn't go into a microwave!"

"Just maybe not now." Ruby added. "I need a moment to, um, prepare."

Jaune nodded with understanding.

/-/

Ruby took a lot longer than a moment. In fact, she didn't approach either Ren or Nora as they cooked dinner, even though watching the latter mishandle kitchen tools hurt Ruby's soul a little. As she observed the two, she came to two important conclusions:

They had no ill intent from the looks of it and indeed seemed rather harmless.

They were the weirdest couple in all of Remnant.

Alright, Ruby wasn't exactly sure how couples were supposed to look like, or if these two were actually together in _that _way. But the fact that either of them managed to interact with the other one without going crazy was nothing short of incredible. Ren, for all his weird manners, seemed not only sane, but calm and collected, in addition to being rather quiet. He also was a pretty good cook. Nora, on the other hand, was energetic, disorganized and really rather loud. She was also the worst cook of all time, making cooking significantly harder through her meddling. Ruby felt a little annoyed just by looking at it.

And yet, Ren didn't seem all that bothered. He wasn't just being patient – he gave no sign he considered his friend's presence to be a problem. Ruby wasn't sure if she should admire the young man for it, or to be more wary of him.

Then again, it wasn't Ren she was supposed to make a deal with.

Ruby slowly approached the ginger human, as the latter was sitting on a couch in the living room. They had all just eaten dinner – a rather tasty one, in spite of certain person's best efforts – and dispersed, Jaune and Ren attending to their own matters. The former was apparently doing some paperwork, the latter had to make a call somewhere. Nora, on the other hand, didn't appear to be doing anything. She just sat there, absently staring at the empty space before her. It was sort of creepy, actually.

Ruby endeavored to say something and catch Nora's attention, but wasn't sure what. Or rather, she wasn't sure what to say without sounding extremely rude. The 'don't speak unless spoken to' rule was still engrained into her mind

"Hm?" Somehow, Nora finally managed to notice the wolf faunus standing right next to her. "Sorry, I've been thinking about platypodes. They're pretty weird and I'm still not sure if I'm using the correct plural."

"Huh?" Ruby asked, not having understood at least two words.

"Sorry, I should guess that sort of thing wouldn't interest you. Not that I am making generalizations based on race." Nora said, not making things any clearer. "So, did you want to talk with me? Was I too rough while petting you? Was I too gentle? Or was it just right and you came back for more?"

"There's something else I want, actually." Ruby started. "Look, I was thinking of making my own weapon, a proper one I mean, I have one but it's not really that great. Jaune told you I'm a fighter, kind of?"

"Yeah, he said something like that, I think. My memory isn't great tough, so maybe he hadn't and me knowing that is just a freak coincidence."

"In any case." Ruby slowly continued. "I know little about weaponcrafting. Well, more like nothing at all. So I've been thinking, maybe you could help me assemble something that works?"

Nora didn't reply. She just looked at Ruby, with surprise – no, outright disbelief in her turquoise eyes.

"I mean, you don't have to!" Ruby hurried to add. "It's was just a request, really I shouldn't..."

"You want my help?" Nora asked, her tone just as bewildered as her face. "You would trust me with something so important?"

"Well... apparently." Ruby shrugged. "I mean, I heard you are good at this sort of stuff..."

"I will not fail your trust." Nora stood upright, her expression turning serious. She looked as though she was ready for battle and was willing to use lethal force. "We will make you the best weapon of all time! Save for Magnhild. Nothing beats Magnhild. But you won't have to settle for anything less than second best. What is it supposed to be, anyway?"

"A scythe." Ruby said, regretting her decisions ever more. "But you don't have to too overboard, really, I'm fine with having just a normal weapon..."

"My lady, there is no such thing as a normal weapon. Forging one is a challenge full of sweat, blood and explosions. Well, sometimes just sweat if you are careful, but usually something blows up."

"Can we at least do that somewhere else?" Ruby pleaded. "Somewhere where we won't burn the whole house down or something? I'm pretty sure Jaune's gym isn't flammable."

"Every place works." Nora shrugged. "All that counts is dedication, skill and the ability to dodge shrapnel."

"I have dodging at my fingertips, at least." Ruby murmured. "Alright, so I guess we prepare some plans and..."

"Plans? Pffft." Nora snorted. "Do you think plans actually help with stuff like this?"

"Yes?" Ruby guessed.

"Well yeah, they do. But they make things a lot less fun. I say we just go through with it."

"Right now?" Ruby suddenly went from being worried to being outright scared.

"Why not?"

"I mean, um, won't Ren feel lonely?"

"Huh, you're right." For a moment, Nora paused. She then took a deep breath. "Ren, can you handle being without me for a moment?"

"Sure." A deep voice could be heard from the first floor.

"It's settled then." Nora grabbed Ruby by the hand. Firmly. "Let's go forge a weapon, friend."

As Ruby was dragged out of the room and then out of the house, she asked her Voice of Reason as to how she was supposed to survive this. It stayed silent, maybe because reason was all but useless in that situation.

/-/

About an hour later, the two young women were standing in the main room of the Arc Gym, next to a pile of weapon components, from simple metal stabs to infrared scopes. There were also tools, hammers or all kinds, melting torches and even more advanced, potentially dangerous stuff. Some of the elements Ruby had no idea how to use in assembling a weapon – there was a goddamn purse next to a Dust container. There was enough material to assemble pretty much anything one could think of, given enough time and skill.

"And that is all you need to know about assembling weapons." Nora said conclusively. "Any questions?"

"About what? You just walked in and dumped this pile of junk on the floor." Now that she thought of it, Ruby had no idea where Nora got all these things from. She was fairly sure that she was better off not knowing this, though. "You didn't tell me anything about how to use any of it."

"Exactly. You have to operate on instinct." Nora stated. "And by that I mean I'll handle most the specifics. We can't expect you to learn engineering if you want that weapon ready this year."

"And do you promise not to explode stuff?" Ruby asked, or rather pleaded with the other girl.

"I'll try" Nora replied, reassuring Ruby only a little. "I can't tell how many combustions there will be and it kind of depends on what we will be constructing. Scythe for a melee weapon, cool, but what do you want to have as a secondary form? I'm assuming you want a secondary form, cause if you don't, you're just kind of boring."

"What are the choices?" Ruby asked. "And please don't say I can just pick anything. Last time I was given a free choice and no advice it didn't end very well for me."

"Well... most people, and by that I mean maybe four in five, have their weapon double as something with a range. A type of gun, most often."

"That sounds neat." Ruby could definitely see the appeal of having a long-distance option. Having to run up to her opponents and face them head-on wasn't much to her liking. "What type of gun would you recommend, though?"

"Well first I would suggest you try something like a rocket launcher." Nora said, only to see Ruby shake her head at that. "Other than that, just pick what you think will suit you best. I can tell you what works for what, but I can't make the decision for you."

Ruby thought about it. She had seen various firearms in use, having watched the shooting practice here at the gym, but that didn't hive her enough of an idea as to what she wanted to fight with herself. She remembered hearing that shotguns were easy to use and quite deadly, but they seemed a little too... destructive, at least judging by the way Jaune used his. That and they required being fairly close to the target, which sort of defeated the point of having a gun in the first place.

The other extreme would be sniper rifles. She hadn't seen many of these things, as the shooting range didn't provide enough room for anyone to practice the use of that particular weapon, but she knew they tended to be very long-distance and quite hard to master. Ruby wasn't sure if these were the weapons for her either... but the appeal was definitely there.

"Say... could you see me fighting with a sniper rifle in hand? I heard they are pretty hard to use." Ruby asked and then waited for Nora to either confirm or deny her suspicions.

"I could see that working out." Nora said after a moment's thought. "I mean, yeah, they take more training than most guns, but there is a reason people go into trouble of learning how to use one. Being able to end a fight from a distance and with a single shot can be pretty broken."

Something unfair that could potentially let you skip a fight. That sounded like it was made just for Ruby. "That sounds neat. But could I even use one of these things? They look big and kind of scary."

"If you think your physique matters, cut it. Heck, one of the best snipers I know was a short girl, I like to think my height isn't a problem either. Use your aura smartly and you can deal with things like recoil easily enough. I definitely think you have the potential to be good, but only if you commit yourself."

Another important choice, was it not? The choice was by no means easy and there was no option which appeared to have no downsides. And yet, Ruby found the idea of having to train some more to learn how to pick her enemies from a distance much more appealing than having to forever go into battle with a pump shotgun, or spraying fire with an assault rifle. And she had one of the best teachers around... one that could accept a need to train as an excuse not to take her anywhere too dangerous in the near future. Yes, the idea really seemed better by the minute.

"Sniper rifle will do." Ruby finally nodded. "As long as you can construct it, of course."

"I already told you not to doubt me." Nora grinned, just widely enough to reveal her unusually prominent fangs. It made her look like some carnivorous faunus that just smelled their favorite prey. "We may as well start right now."

"Alright... how much do you want me to do, exactly?"

"Well I don't want to see you waste everything by making some mistake, but I don't want you excluded from the process either and I could use some menial... I mean physical help. How about you handle the tools, but only use them exactly as I tell you."

"I guess that's fair." Ruby replied. "Just tell me outright – are you going to have me do something particularly hard or dangerous?"

"Nah, I'll make sure everything goes as smoothly as it possibly can." Nora promised. "Now, let's get down to business, young weapon-enthusiast."

Ruby wanted to point out that she wasn't particularly enthusiastic at the moment, but Nora did not wait for her reply. She reached for a melting torch and put it in Ruby's hand.

"First we're going to have to actually smelt some metal." The ginger girl announced. "Keep your aura up, alright? I know something about first aid, but if you burn yourself too much, I might not be able to perform an amputation in time."

Ruby gulped.

/-/

Ruby walked into the house. Nora had left for the hotel room she and Ren had rented out and it seemed like the latter had opted to join her. There was no sign of him in Jaune's house, which was a blessing – Ruby couldn't muster the energy to be wary of him at the moment. She was just too damn tired.

She took off her shoes, though it was kind of pointless seeing how her feet were covered in ash anyway. Everything was – she was essentially covered in a thick layer of soot, one that accumulated over all the complex operations Nora had her perform. And yet, throughout the entire afternoon, they only managed to assemble what was supposed to serve as a chine of the scythe. Ruby dreaded to think how much more drudgery awaited her before she could call the project finished.

Only paying enough attention to her surroundings not to trip and fall down the stairs, Ruby made her way up. Once reached her room, she relinquished any control of her muscles and simply collapsed onto the bed, face down and pressed to the pillow.

For about a minute, she lied there in blessed silence. After said minute passed, she heard someone knock on the door and, when they received no reply, cautiously open the door.

"Hello, Ruby." Jaune said, somewhat awkwardly. "How was the day?"

Despite all her training and respect for her master, Ruby barely held herself from giving a sarcastic reply. "Not great. Thanks for asking."

"I suppose working with Nora kind of tired you out?" Jaune asked.

"How can making one lousy weapon be so hard?" Ruby replied with a question of her own. "How can it be so damn _dangerous? _I feel like I almost died at least three times there and was on the verge of getting crippled at twice as often."

"I'll take that as a yes."

"And those weren't even the dangerous parts we were making!" Ruby kept complaining. "Nora said that we were only getting started and that next steps would be more complicated. Does it mean there will be even more shrapnel? Stronger lasers? Other kinds of acid?"

"I can't tell you anything for sure." Jaune replied, probably shrugging to accentuate his helplessness. "As I said, there is a reason I always used a hand-me-down. For what it's worth, I will be rooting for you... from afar."

Ruby groaned.

/-/

Ruby put down the hacksaw she had been working with, wiped the sweat off her brow and looked over her work. Well, it was in equal part Nora's work – the two of them had been laboring hard for the past several days, forging parts and putting them all together until it resembled a valid weapon. Then they worked even further, making adjustments, repairs and replacements, until they both deemed the effects satisfactory.

"You will have to give it a paintjob if you want it to look good." Nora stated, also a little tired but equally satisfied. "

Ruby couldn't agree more. She was looking at a weapon that was simply... one could call it indescribable, but the amazing thing was, Ruby actually _could _describe the thing in detail. In current form it was a huge metal scythe, made up of multiple metal parts forged from steel and brass alike. The blade was strongly curved, forged into a crescent shape, attached to a long shaft that ended with a small jagged blade at the top. If one pressed a small switch installed into the chin, the scythe would unfold and the muzzle would rotate, allowing the user to slice their enemies with both the main blade and the small prongs at the same time. If one would press the considerably larger switch, the weapon would transform into a powerful gun with a long barrel and a handy scope for aiming over large distances. And then there was an option to deactivate the weapon and have it assume a surprisingly small, though equally heavy and not quite unnoticeable form.

A High-Caliber Sniper Scythe of the highest quality, that's how Nora called it earlier. And while it really wasn't that much of a compliment – there couldn't be many such things in Remnant, with how both scythes and sniper rifles were rather unpopular – but Ruby was astonished that they finally managed to assemble anything, let alone something so impressive.

"It is pretty cool." Ruby said, downplaying her amazement out of modesty. She took hlod on the weapon with both hands, finding that while the thing heavy, she could still wield it with relative ease. "I wonder if I can do it justice."

"Less wondering, more testing." Nora ruled. "Let's get outside and see if you can actually wield that masterpiece."

Ruby obliged, heading for the exit and eventually walking out onto the parking lot. While she was normally weary of walking out bearing a weapon like that, there was no one in sight and if even if someone did see them, they wouldn't think much of someone training right outside a place like this. Plus she was just too damn pumped to finally see if her efforts paid off.

"First just give it some swings." Nora advised, following Ruby onto an open space. "Basics go first."

Ruby nodded and, after taking a deep breath, swung the scythe wide. It was heavier than the one she had used thus far, so the girl was woefully unprepared for how a strike dragged her sideways, causing her to round on the spot.

"We did use a lot of heavy metals." Nora commented. "Try to get used to it."

Ruby made a couple more swings and, while not exactly used to the weigh, she eventually found herself able to remain in station. Satisfied with that part of the test, she pressed a switch and winced as the weapon transformed in her hands.

The ranged form was no less heavy, but with the center of mass not quite as far off, so it was somewhat easier to hold. Still, Ruby found it was a little too heavy to be kept entirely steady. Even though she could lift the thing with the help of her aura, her hands trembled ever so slightly, as though recognizing the weight as being too much for them. Ruby had to kneel in order to keep the scope still. She thought to test that, but quickly decided against it – she only fired a gun a handful of times and was pretty sure hitting something she wasn't supposed to would attract unwanted attention.

"I think it's good." Ruby said, standing up and folding the weapon. "I will definitely need practice though."

"Sure thing. I'm not a gunslinger so you shouldn't ask me for lessons, but I will tell the boys to spare you some of their time." Nora replied. "That comes later though. There is something more important to worry about now."

"I thought we did everything we had to." Ruby raised an eyebrow. "The forging, the assembly, warding against Grimm spirits..."

"Well I didn't think to mention the obvious." Nora rolled her eyes. "You have to name your weapon, dummy."

"Like an actual name? Or something weird like... what was your weapon named again?"

"At a younger age, I would get really mad at you. You could even lose your kneecap privileges to my sweet Magnhild." Nora said casually.

"Sorry." Ruby winced. "But is that really such a big deal?"

"It's a tradition." Nora replied. "And not Vale tradition, or huntsmen tradition or anything like that. It's just something all fighters do, regardless of affiliation or status, and I'll be damned if a weapon helped construct will break that most sacred custom."

"Alright, point taken." Ruby started to search her mind for possible weapon names, but apparently, she never bothered to prepare any. The only time she ever had to name anything was when she got a pet rock for good behavior and she screwed that one up. It never responded to the name.

She looked around hoping to find some inspiration in the outside world. There was little, unless she was to name her weapon 'sky' or 'building'. Ruby's gaze skimmed through her surroundings until it focused on a particular item – the shield handing right above the entrance door.

Did the shield have any name itself? Jaune never said so. But it could still serve as a starting point. It was, um, metal and of light colors. It had crescent-like shape engraved on it and reminded Ruby of... No, that was it! The crescent shape, just one that of her own blade. The word fit both a weapon and the place it was forged in.

Crescent, then? It didn't sound like a good name on its own. Maybe another word would be in order, something like a last name. Now, maybe it could be something referencing the wielder in some manner... but there wasn't that much to her, was it? Should the name reference wolves somehow? 'Crescent Fang' didn't sound all that bad, but a bit too dark and seemed more fitting for a sword. Would 'claw' be better? Or maybe something else with the moon theme...

Ruby then realized she had faced such a problem before. And that the same answer would fit.

"Crescent Rose. That's how I want to call it." Ruby declared. "You think it's a good name?"

"A perfect one." Nora smiled. "And with that, I call the project complete. I would show it to the guys though, see if they could maybe notice something we missed."

"Yeah..." Ruby wondered how Jaune would react to seeing this 'Crescent Rose' weapon of hers. Would he have some critical remarks? Or maybe he wouldn't know what to say, due to his admitted lack of expertise?

"I'm pretty Jaune will proud of you." Nora assured. "And yes, it is that obvious. I bet you can't wait to fish for compliments and won't stop until you have a full net."

"Maybe..." Ruby saw no way to deny that claim, so she just sat down on the entrance stairs.

"Hey, I didn't mean in a bad way." Nora sat down next t Ruby. "You can bet I will be telling Ren about everything I did here."

"You are hoping to earn praise from him?" Ruby asked the ginger. "Aren't you more like, you know, partners?"

"That we are," Nora nodded. "And we have been since forever. Thing is, we were never exactly equal partners."

"What do you mean?"

"When we first met, Ren... well, let's just say he saved my butt." Nora's expression was hard to decipher. It wasn't sad per se, but it was... less jovial than usually. "It wasn't an easy time for him, to say the least, but he did find the time to help me and continued to do so after the danger passed. For the longest time we travel together, trained together and eventually fought together. But through all of this, I always felt a need to impress him."

"You felt indebted?" Ruby was surprised Nora was so willing to discuss such personal matters, but she wouldn't say no to an opportunity to find something out.

"Well kind of, but it wasn't even that." Nora shook her head. "He was kind of my everything, you know? Still is, but back then I felt more insecure about it, almost afraid he would eventually drop me off somewhere and leave. And I was kind of hard to put up with back then."

_Even harder than now? _Ruby thought, before squashing that thought on the basis of being incredibly rude and mean. And likely to get her legs broken if she said it out loud.

"And then as we, um, grew up, I started to have feelings for him." Nora continued. "But instead of simply telling him that, I let my doubts take the better of me and, for a long while, I was stuck in that weird limbo where I wouldn't make a move because I was afraid of getting turned down, or worse, ruining what I already had. Am I making sense?"

"I think I get what you mean." Ruby said, though she definitely couldn't relate. Fear of being rejected seemed a little weird to her – it made more sense to be afraid of getting noticed by someone you didn't want to be with. "And I guess you got over it?"

"Yeah, we're totally banging now." Nora stated nonchalantly.

Ruby cringed. "You're quite open about it, aren't you?"

"I treat that as my penance for all the times I went on about us not being together-together and stuff like that." Nora snickered. "By the way, do you have a thing for Jaune? I know how hard it can be to keep that bottled up and I won't tell anyone if you do."

Ruby blinked, processing the words for a moment. She then felt an immediate urge to protest. "What? No! I mean, we are together, but not together-together... but it's not like with you and Ren, I really mean it and..."

"Don't sweat it. I was just curious, that's it." It was hard to tell if Nora believed Ruby's words. "You can keep such things to yourself, if you are bothered by silly things like awkwardness."

"Right." Ruby _was _a little bothered by how heart-to-heart the conversation had become. She appreciated how open Nora was, but didn't feel like reciprocating just yet. "So, do we just go home now? I doubt there is anything else for us to do here."

"Sure we can." Nora stood up. "It is getting pretty late and... actually, I think there is something else I can do for you."

"What is it?" Ruby asked, scrambling to her feet as well.

"I can't teach you how to shoot and I can probably tell you little about swinging." Nora said. "But if you don't want to go home knowing nothing about how to use your new weapon, you may instead improve your defense."

"You mean blocking attacks with a scythe? That sounds pretty hard."

"I meant something even more basic." Nora said as she grabbed and unfolded her weapon. A giant hammer, every bit as threatening as Ruby's new scythe. "I've been told you have some experience already, but with a new weapon comes a need to train a little more."

At that moment, Ruby realized what they were talking about, and it sent shivers down her spine. "Um, actually, can we go home after all? As you said, it's pretty late, I'm really tired and I kinda don't want to die just yet, so..."

"No-no." Nora shook her head and tightened her grip on the hammer. "Begging for mercy is a valid defensive technique, but it's not what we're doing right now. Now we practice dodging with a weapon in hand. Brace yourself."

Ruby ducked just in time.

/-/

The sun was halfway behind the horizon and the parking lot was consumed by shadows. Fortunately, that didn't imepede Ruby too much - her eyesight was keen enough to stil see where the deadly hammer was striking and that it was mostly the place she was currently stading at. Unfortunately, she was getting more tired by the minute. Nora was visibly tired too, though it didn't seem to slow her down very much ,as though she had additional reserves of energy reserves just for hitting newbies with a hammer.

"Hey, you are pretty good at that." The huntress said, as she brought Magnhild up once again. "You can dodge fairly well even in shadows."

"Yes, I'm kind of good at that!" Ruby replied, from a distance that gave her the best chance of avoiding the next blow. "Can we call it a night please?"

"I still have some energy left, so no." Nora responded as she swung with her hammer. It wasn't the first, second of even a hundredth time she did that, but this time she did it in an unusual way, an arc too wide to be expected to score a hit.

Without thinking, Ruby jerked left, dodging the attack. It was a grave error on her part, for instead of backing away to swing once more, Nora let the momentum spin her round and before a full second could pass, the head of her warhammer was on collision course with Ruby once more.

In a split second she had to think, Ruby realized there wasn't much she could do to avoid that particular blow. Her momentum still carried her in a way that all but guaranteed she would get hit, and there wasn't enough time to rebound. She had no way to avoid the blow other than to...

An alien, yet familiar feeling overtook her. For the briefest moment, Ruby felt the evening air far more keenly, felt as though even the light wind that was half-heartedly blowing at her could lift her up to the sky and beyond. And once that moment passed, Ruby found herself standing there, with her body physical and intact, with several red petals scattered around her.

That gave Nora a pause. She looked around, before smiling with approval. "Nice. You used your semblance to dodge, once all other options became unavailable."

"I guess I did." At any other occasion, Ruby would be either proud to have successfully used her semblance or excited to try to replicate it. But now, even still, she had something else to worry about."Can we celebrate by ending this session? Right now?"

"I am all for celebrating." Nora said. She then pressed a switch and transformed her weapon into what Ruby could recognize as a grenade launcher. "I propose we set off some fireworks."

"Oh come on!" Ruby exclaimed. "Why is most training I get just me getting hit with stuff? Is that even an efficient way to train?"

"Maybe." Nora shrugged, before aiming the launcher straight at the wolf faunus before her. "But it's certainly is a lot of fun. On one end, at least."

"You are all psychos!" Ruby yelled to a darkening sky, before the explosions could drown out her voice.

* * *

**Whenever one writes Nora, they have to decide on what interpretation of her personality they want to go with. Some just portray her as borderline crazy, if not a total psycho, while others assume it's just a front for someone really intelligent and perceptive, as the show seems to suggest at times.**

**Here I sort of combined the two approaches. I kept, if not overplayed Nora's usual wackiness, but also had her use wider vocabulary and made it clear that she is more than competent in some aspects. Just like Jaune had the time to improve and actually grow into a professional, Nora had after all graduated from Beacon, which would give her an equivalent of our world's associate degree at the very least. She knows stuff, but knowledge and sanity do not always go hand-in-hand.**

**Aside from that I'm just sort of glad with the way this chapter turned out. Not sure why. Maybe I'm just proud of managing to write anything at this point.**


	12. Sanity

"Yes, that's... certainly a thing." Jaune said, his voice betraying uncertainty with a tinge of fear – his reaction to Ruby arriving at his doorstep close to midnight and unfolding her new weapon. "A large thing. Lots of parts."

"Don't you like it?" Ruby asked. Even though her muscles ached after her spar against Nora – the ginger eventually agreed to let her be after the sun went down – she was concerned about what her mentor would have to say about the new weapon of hers.

Crescent Rose was held firmly in her hand, surpassing its owner in height as it was pointed towards its namesake high in the sky. Even now, after the novelty of wielding an actual mecha-shift weapon had worn off, the giant scythe looked really impressive. Ruby wasn't sure why Jaune didn't seem to share that feeling, but his face didn't show much excitement.

"Is there something wrong with it?" Ruby asked, spinning the shaft in her hand. "I told Nora we were going a little overboard, but she told me not to worry. Though she never seems to worry ever, so maybe I shouldn't be so sure now that I think about it."

"I'm not going to dispute my teammate here." Jaune replied. "I lack the expertise to do so. I'm just sort of worried about what you will have to do to master that thing."

Ruby frowned. She had considered this problem before, but if Jaune agreed, then she had probably underestimated how big of an issue it was. "Do you think I made a bad choice?"

"I didn't say that." Jaune hurried to reply. "But you have made an interesting choice to be sure. I wasn't expecting a sniper rifle hybrid and I'm not sure how to even begin training you in that."

"You never trained anyone like this?"

"I run a gym, Ruby. A gym that is meant to hone different kinds of combat skills, but not a place where you can learn how to wield any weapon in existence. I know some good snipers, but most of them would call the cops once they found out I'm showing a faunus how to shoot from a small cannon."

"Nothing comes to mind?" Ruby pleaded. She wanted to be at least sort of good with her new weapon, as to not let all that effort go to waste... and not die against some random enemy, obviously.

"Well, I've been thinking for a while... Someone once said that every day in the field is worth five days of training. We have been studying theory so far, but maybe you could learn faster by fighting seriously."

"Fighting what?" Ruby cocked an eyebrow. "I think we agreed I was sorta stupid for going on a mission last time."

"I was thinking of something else. Grimm, to be exact."

"Grimm?" Ruby gulped. She didn't know much about Grimm, but what she did know was... distressing. "You mean those scary things that hunt down all living creatures and would very gladly have me for dinner?"

"Yes and no." Jaune replied. "Grimm are aggressive, but most of them aren't all that dangerous if you know how to fight with aura. And there happens to be a method I know that would make hunting from Grimm, at least the lesser ones, almost entirely safe."

"How and how much safe is 'almost' safe?" Ruby demanded to know.

"There is a professional I know that can shield you from the Grimm better than I ever could. And I am sure of their trustworthiness, would trust them with my own life as well."

"Alright... so how do we go about arranging that?"

"It should be pretty easy, actually." Jaune assured her. "But we will have to organize it before my trip starts. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after that."

"Alright, it's not like I have much else to..." Ruby paused. "Wait, you're just going to send me out with Ren, aren't you?"

"Is that a problem?" Jaune asked innocuously. "He _is _a trusted professional."

"He is also, you know, kind of strange." Ruby dared to point out. "And if working with him is as difficult as working with Nora, then I don't see myself coming back alive."

"Don't worry, Ren is as different to Nora as he looks." Jaune replied.

"I dunno, he looks a little girly..."

"Alright, a bad comparison." Jaune conceded. "But still, Ren is not a bad guy by any means. He's just sort of quiet and to the point. You may want to make some small talk if you want to have a conversation."

"That's all?" Ruby cocked her other eyebrow. "You never seen him do anything crazy?"

"Well, he had preformed a suicidal charge against a Grimm he held a grudge against, but other than that he was always acting sane for a huntsman." Jaune frowned. "Alright, that didn't sound very reassuring. Still, I assure you will be safe."

"Alright then." Ruby saw no choice but to agree. Worried or not, she knew it was pointless to argue.

"Great! I'm pretty sure we can set you up for tomorrow." Jaune smiled. "Again, everything will be fine. Nothing can happen to you with a professional guarding you."

Ruby was polite enough not to express her doubt.

/-/

A winter proper fell over the forest, covering the trees in a layer of snow. The tress weren't crimson, but the boring regular kind – either leafless and sleeping or covered in green needles. Even though the forest was maybe a few miles from Vale's walls, there were few signs of human presence on this terrain. It felt wild and untamed, primal and dangerous. Given that there were said to be murderous monsters lurking in the woodland, that impression was probably accurate.

"We should be far enough for some Grimm to sense us." A man in a green suit said, as he and Ruby marched through the forest. "Or rather we are close enough for them to tell us from the vague mass of people in Vale. In any case, they might come to fight us soon enough."

"So, um, you know a lot about Grimm?" Ruby asked, partially because she was curious of the answer, but also because she remembered her master advice and attempted to 'make small talk'.

"It is my chosen area of expertise." Ren nodded, not looking directly at Ruby. His eyes were constantly scanning his surroundings, calmly yet carefully. "I had best grades at Grimm Studies during my years in Beacon. Even after I graduated, I kept learning, kept studying these creatures. It is something of a hobby, I suppose."

"Grimm are your hobby?" Ruby inquired nervously. "Not that there's anything wrong with that. Just curious, you know."

"Oh, do not get me wrong." Ren shook his head. "I hate them as much as I hate anything. You have to know your enemy."

Ruby wasn't sure how to reply, so she didn't. These few sentences were still more than they exchanged for the past hour or so. Though arranging this trip was apparently easy, trying to make it fun was a really hard task.

Damn it. They had to be home before dusk, and not just because walking in the dark would be dangerous. Jaune and his friends were about to start their own trip by evening and Ruby did not want to stand in a way of that, so they had to return before long. They only had a few hours to do the training, training that couldn't even start before they found some Grimm randomly strolling around.

"So, where are Grimm normally found?" Ruby asked. "Do they live in caves, or in nests or..."

"Most don't really live anywhere." Ren replied. "As in, they don't have stationary dwellings. Some of the older ones, those that have a form of intellect, might have a place they go to collect the trophies, but they are rare exceptions. Most just spend their time wandering about and searching for prey."

"So how are we going to find any? Do we search for tracks?"

"We could, but I think there is an easier method." Ren suddenly stopped on the edge of the forest. "I think this place will do. We will lure some Grimm to us."

"Lure them out?" Ruby did not like the sound of this. "How? Do we have a bait for Grimm."

"We always have." Ren replied, earning a cocked eyebrow from Ruby. "Has anyone told you what Grimm are attracted to?"

"Well I was told that if I acted unhappy, a Grimm would come and eat me." Ruby replied. "But I just kind of assumed it's not true."

"It was true, at least in a way. Grimm are attracted to unpleasant emotions, or 'negative' ones as most people would put it. It's their prime way of locating prey and might be the main motivation behind their attacks. No one is truly sure, but they are certainly more focused on negative people."

Ruby considered this explanation. Now that she thought of it, she remembered Jaune saying something similar a while ago, something about a settlement using faunus as a bait for the Grimm. But that begged a question..."Then why are people so negative all the time? More than that, why do they make people around them miserable whenever they can?"

"The existence of evil is one of the oldest philosophical questions of all time." Ren replied thoughtfully. "As for the practical answer, for most people the threat of the Grimm is a distant one. One they most often ignore."

"But it's still a threat! Isn't that something worth keeping in mind?" Ruby was confused to say the least. She didn't understand a lot of things about humans, but most of them didn't give off the impression that they wanted to be eaten by monsters.

"It's not as crazy as it initially sounds. In everyday life, not caring about a horde of Grimm that roams far from city walls really is the best thing to do. Most people cannot turn off their emotions on a whim and the effort of staying positive all the time simply isn't worth the prize."

"The prize of not being dinner?" Ruby arched an eyebrow. "I get that there are walls, but wouldn't a horde of Grimm break through those somehow?"

"They would need a motivation to. Which they sometimes have, but only in events of national tragedies or mass hysteria. An average human or an average faunus, without their aura unlocked, won't garner much attention from even a nearby Grimm."

"I guess it makes..." Right before conceding, Ruby realized something. "Wait, what did you just said about aura?"

"As natural enemies of life, Grimm are drawn to sources of aura above all else." Ren explained, calmly and casually. "Presumably that's the reasons they hunt humans, creatures with the strongest souls amidst all species. But if a human with their aura dormant is like a lantern to them, one with aura unlocked is like a lighthouse in Argus. It's quite convenient for huntsmen, but not everyone likes that effect for the most obvious of reasons. That's why most people prefer their auras locked."

Ruby analyzed these words. They made a lot of sense, definitely explained a lot, but... "Why didn't Jaune tell me about that? I mean, we had a long talk about aura before we unlocked mine, but he only said something about destiny and stuff when I asked him about the risks."

This time, Ren did not reply immediately. He seemed to be thinking intensely for a moment, either trying to figure out the answer, or figuring out what answer to give. "I suppose he saw existential threat as the more important one." He finally replied. "Jaune can be like this. And with how long he's been dealing with Grimm, I wouldn't be surprised if he stopped considering them dangerous a long time ago."

"I guess..." Ruby felt uncertainty return to her. It wasn't pleasant, and it certainly wasn't welcome, since she endeavored not to worry about stuff like this a while ago. In this case, it was particularly stupid to worry – it would be really weird of Jaune to be planning on getting her killed by Grimm for no reason. Even a purely uncaring person wouldn't spend effort training someone they intended to die, right? Ren was probably right, it was just a piece of information that Jaune forgot to mention...

"I sense something." Ren suddenly said. "You must have attracted a Grimm with your thoughts. Congratulations."

"Thanks... I mean I'm sorry... I mean please protect me?" Ruby reached for her weapon, even though she wasn't sure it would be enough to defend herself with.

"I will, if a need comes." Ren replied, making a few steps away from the treeline. "But first, I wish to see how you fight. Depending on what comes out, you might even handle the threat yourself."

"Might?" Ruby could now hear sounds coming from the woods, as though something was trampling down bushes as it ran through the forest. Not the most calming sound to say the least. Ren didn't reply with as much as a single word and instead gestured towards the trees, silently ordering Ruby to pay attention.

Ruby did, and so she saw the arrival just as it emerged from the dark. For a moment she wasn't sure what she was seeing – the thing looked unreal, pitch black as though it was made of shadows – but soon enough she was able to make out the exact shape. A large creature, walking slumped on two legs, but more canine than human in features. White claws tipped it's feet and hands and a white mask adorned the head, right above an open jaw full of tiny, but deadly-looking teeth. It was large, far larger than any human or wolf and downright huge compared to a short faunus girl that it now focused its red eyes on.

_Beowolf. _The name sprung to Ruby's mind despite her poor knowledge of the subjects. Even she had heard it more than once, each time in an unpleasant context. A news story about a Beowolf killing someone on the road, a rumor that a pack camped near the city gates, a huntsman bragging about killing a Beowolf or two. She didn't know the specifics, but she realized that these things were really dangerous and have killed countless people many times over.

The Grimm was apparently eager to add Ruby to the list, as it charged at her right after spotting her. Ruby had enough of a mind to activate her weapon, a metal scythe forming in her hands, but by the time Crescent Rose fully unfolded, the Beowolf was already close and mid-jump.

Not having enough time to shield herself in any way, Ruby fell on her most basic and well-trained instinct. Before the white claws could reach her, she jerked to the side, agilely yet barely avoiding getting severely scratched by the Grimm.

Unfortunately, this Grimm wasn't clumsy either. It didn't turn back towards Ruby as she would expect it – it didn't lose her for even the briefest of moments. The moment it landed on the grass it jumped again, not pausing for a second to think or hesitate. It wanted to kill.

Ruby soon hit the ground as well, but by then she didn't have time to dodge. She could only activate her aura as claws buried themselves in her dress, causing sharp pain as the magical energy did little to numb the sting. It also didn't eliminate all the force, causing Ruby to get thrown into the air once more.

She landed on a patch of snow, which made the impact fairly soft, thanks heaven for small mercies. It didn't really matter though, since the Beowolf was charging again, still hell-bent on murder. And Ruby wasn't quite sure how to stop it.

The girl frantically scrambled to her feet as the beast closed in. She wanted to dodge again, but that was harder with her weapon in hand and harder still when fighting a creature such as this one. She considered dropping Crescent Rose for more freedom of movement, but that would feel kind of bad and would actually be really stupid since she would have no way of actually fighting but it was the only option but it was probably too late with how the Grimm opened its jaw as it...

Ruby was just about to scream helplessly, when for no clear reason, the Beowolf stopped. It then stood there for a moment on its hind legs, looking and sniffling around, as though confused by something. Ruby didn't know what was going on, but at the moment, she was just relieved that she wasn't in the process of being eaten alive.

No, that wasn't quite right. Ruby didn't feel relief, but she no longer felt any fear either. In fact, she felt... nothing. Nothing at all, save for this weird calm that took over all the sudden. Even though she could still see the monster right in front of her, she felt as though there was nothing to be scared of, like her mind failed to register the threat.

Eventually, the Beowolf lost interest, apparently deciding that there was nothing to kill anymore. It then turned around and ran back into the forest, ignoring Ren all the same as it passed near him.

"Is everything alright?" The huntsman asked once the beast disappeared between the trees. "You were in a rough spot just now."

"I think it's alright." Ruby replied slowly. "At least, I don't feel like anything's wrong."

"That is probably my doing. Brace yourself."

Before Ruby could ask what she was supposed to brace herself for, she felt a wave of emotions assault her. There was fear, a wild panic the likes of which she hasn't felt in a long time, but also surprise and resignation and... something else...

It was too much. She dropped to her knees, as though someone punched her in the gut. She felt like this too, all the emotions so intense it was downright painful.

"I'm sorry for that." Ren said. "I had to use my semblance to shield you. I assure you, the aftereffects are temporary."

"Your semblance?" True to Ren's word, the emotions were leaving Ruby. Her breathing calmed a little and the discomfort lessened. "That's what... what was that?"

"I have an ability to suppress emotions, both in myself and other people. It can be useful in many situation, but it's especially valuable against Grimm. I can make one effectively invisible to them, or rather uninteresting to be exact. It helped me a lot throughout the years"

"That... does sound like a useful thing." Ruby had to admit, she was grateful for the rescue. She imagined getting eaten by a wolf was more painful than what she just experienced. "I think that's better than most semblances I've seen."

"I spent some time perfecting it." Ren looked slightly flattered. Very slightly. "When I first unlocked it, it was just a way to mask emotions. It worked against Grimm, mostly, but it took more effort and only for a brief time. Currently, I can suppress emotions indefinitely, though the aftereffects can be... unpleasant."

"I noticed." Ruby sighed, standing back up.

"Again, my apologies. But as far as I know, it's more or less unavoidable. Whenever I release the grip, all the suppressed emotions come back, with all the strength they accumulated while dormant. It lasts only a few moments though, so it won't attract many Grimm if you're worried about that."

"Can we please not do that again?" Ruby requested. "Or better yet, can we go home? I think we established that I'm not strong enough to fight Grimm just yet."

"You weren't all that bad for your first time. Besides.." Ren looked towards the forest, all traces of satisfaction disappearing from his face. "It is somewhat weird that the Grimm would be distracted that easily. And that it would return to where it came from, instead of searching for a victim somewhere else."

"What do you mean?" Ruby didn't really like where she thought it was going.

"I suspect there is someone else being negative in this forest. Someone in danger." Ren began marching towards the treeline. "I say we investigate."

"You want us to help that someone?" Ruby hesitantly followed Ren. "I mean, that's good and all, but shouldn't I stay behind? Better if no one sees me with a weapon..."

"I doubt it will be an issue, if it's just some random person stranded in the forest. Besides, I am yet to see how that weapon of yours actually works."

"Not that well against big monsters, I think..."

"You can't be sure until you actually try." Ren insisted as he increased the pace. "Quick, so that we won't arrive just to see some dead bodies."

Still not totally sold on the idea, but unwilling to be left behind, Ruby ran alongside Ren as he descended into the forest proper. In the shadows, with tress blocking out the light, Ruby grew even more anxious, more uncertain, but the presence of a trained huntsmen did help a little. She figured that as long as she stayed close to the vastly stronger fighter, she would likely not die.

And so she followed Ren as he led them through the forest. She wasn't sure how he decided where to go, since he didn't seem to be doing any tracking, but Ruby chalked this up to some other weird part of huntsman training. Or maybe some aspect of his semblance, or maybe some generic aura thing, or who the hell knew. It wasn't the most impossible thing she saw somebody do by a longshot.

And it worked well enough. Eventually, the two of them reached an unusually tall tree, with many branches growing out of the solid trunk. A person sat on one of them – a girl from the looks of it, dressed colorfully and with moderate hair worn in twin pigtails. Ruby didn't have time to discern all the details, because her attention was focused on the three Beowolves circling the tree, their eyes all set upwards until they noticed the new arrivals. Like one, they all turned towards Ruby and Ren, who they perceived as their new prey.

Damn. Three bloodthirsty monsters were hardly less scary than one and Ruby's first instinct was to flee immediately so that they could munch on someone else. She stopped herself from doing so because she realized that these things were probably faster and more endurable, that there were likely other Grimm in the forest she would risk running into and the fact that she wasn't exactly alone.

By the time the first Grimm made a move forward, Ren was already rushing towards their small pack at a blinding speed. Mid-dash he drew out his weapons, a pair of blades that doubled as guns of some sort. He used one to slash at the nearest Beowolf, cutting out a gaping wound in its hide with seemingly little effort. Another Grimm tried to attack the huntsman once he stopped moving, jumping at him with a guttural growl. It didn't make it, of course, due to the barrage of bullets that came out of Ren's other weapon, sending the sounds of gunfire echoing through the forest and burying multiple rounds in the monster's body.

The last Beowolf apparently didn't like the idea of facing Ren in combat, or maybe he just didn't find him appetizing enough. In any case, it ignored the huntsman and rushed towards Ruby, saliva dripping from its open mouth, sharp fangs visible all too well. It could have been the same on that attacked her a few minutes earlier, or maybe it was another one entirely – it was hard to tell and Ruby didn't exactly have the time to inspect the beast.

Somehow, even without Ren's semblance, Ruby managed to rein her nerves in enough to think. She already found out that she wasn't quite fast enough to dodge consistently and she didn't feel confident enough with her weapon to rely on it. If she wanted to score a good hit on the monster, she had to think outside the box, use something else...

Just before the Grimm reached her, Ruby allowed her fear run wild. In that moment she felt her body scatter, that sensation she still wasn't able to describe, but that was already familiar. It meant that her semblance, her supernatural form of dodging, had worked once again.

For a split second the Grimm seemed confused. By the time it turned around so that it could see Ruby again, she was already reformed and in a good position to strike.

Clenching her teeth, Ruby swung at the beast with the scythe, putting all her rather meager strength into the blow. The Grimm didn't do the sensible thing and made no attempt to dodge, or even duck beneath the blade, and instead leapt forwards in a desperate effort to reach the girl and tear her apart. To its credit, it almost succeeded – though 'almost' didn't save it from getting practically cut in half when Crescent Rose struck its target.

As the upper half of the monster's body hit the ground before her feet, spilling crimson blood over dirty snow, Ruby kept alert. She watched the Beowolf breathe its last, then convulse for a moment before finally freezing. Only then did Ruby step back, relaxed and began breathing heavily, shaking gently from the adrenaline.

That was insane. She actually scored a Grimm with her new weapon... on a Grimm. She just killed a Grimm, a creature of darkness, just now, without dying herself. A part of her felt a sense of accomplishments, but all the other parts were just shocked she was still alive.

"Are you alright?" Ren asked, casually walking past the Grimm corpses he left himself. "I see that you handled the threat, but are you unharmed?"

"Yeah." Ruby nodded. "Somehow. Not sure how."

"As I said, you are not exactly weak." Ren allowed himself another small smile. "And besides, for all their murderous intent, Beowolves are not the most dangerous thing one might encounter. Stop where you are."

It took Ruby a moment to realize that this last part was not meant for her. Rather it was for the other girl, who somehow managed to get down from her tree quickly and quietly enough for Ruby not to notice. Hearing Ren order her, however, made her cease instantly before she slowly turned around to face her rescuers.

Now that Ruby could see the girl up close, she could say she looked... particular. Her clothing was an assortment of many colorful garments, but it left quite a bit of skin revealed, making it a pretty poor defense against the cold. She also had a rather unusual hairstyle, piercings in her ears and...

A tail. Ruby couldn't see it right away, but there it was, gently waggling from side to side behind her back. It was longer than Ruby's, more likely a trait of a cat or a monkey than a dog, and matched the girl's pink hair in color. It looks like they found a faunus in the woods, somehow.

"Thanks for help and all." She said, her tone surprisingly relaxed considering the circumstances. "It would be great if we could go hang out together, but I really don't have the time. Can I go please?"

"What is so pressing, may I ask?" Ren's tone was equally relaxed, yet insistent. "Maybe I could help with that?"

"You know, I was asked to pick up laundry." The faunus girl replied. "But I got lost and I ended up stranded in the forest. You know, happens to everyone."

"You're a runaway." Ruby said, adding two and two together. "You're trying to get away from the city, to lose chase."

"Well congrats on your insight." The faunus rolled her eyes. "Yes, I am running away. I'm someone who has gotten sick of getting treated like trash, and so I made a run for it. And you are?"

"Huntsmen." Ren said before Ruby could open her mouth. "We sensed some Grimm gathering for no clear reason and so we decided to investigate."

"And now that I'm helped?" The girl crossed her arms. "I warn you, I don't think there is a reward for me. You don't even know where you' have to deliver me. Just let me be and we can all forget it."

"Wait, you'd really rather take your chances in the forest?" Ruby couldn't hold her bewilderment in. "There are more Grimm out there and you look pretty tasty. Wherever you came from can't be worse."

"Of course a human would say that." The girl snorted. "You don't understand a thing, do you?"

A human? But... oh right, Ruby's tail was covered by the dress, safe from any sight. And faunus usually didn't run around with huge weapons, not without Grimm masks anyway. It was only natural she would be confused for a human without closer inspection.

"Please, we just want to help." Ren said reassuringly. "I have no interest in capturing runaways, but as my partner pointed out, you are unlikely to survive for long if you keep going. You'll just get lost and if the Grimm won't manage to kill you, the cold surely will."

"I know exactly where to go, and it's not far." The faunus replied. "I see it right now, actually."

"You want to reach the city?" Ruby arched an eyebrow. "I thought you were running away from there."

"Well..." The faunus lowered her gaze, before sighing loudly. "Alright, I guess I owe you a little for saving my ass. Just promise you won't rat me out, give a huntsman's word or something."

"I can give you my word that I won't repeat anything I hear." Ren replied, prompting Ruby to nod. She was a little curious as to what was the deal with that weirdo.

"Right. Well, if you care to find out, my name is Neon." The faunus girl said. "Or that's how they've been calling me for the last few years, back in the troupe."

"You mean, like, a circus troupe?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. We would travel from town to town and give a performance or two wherever we stayed. I was a ropedancer, doing all these stupid tricks so that the humans would be entertained. If they were, I would be fed a little better and given some free time. If not, I'd usually be spending the night with the animals, or have to clean after them."

"That actually sounds better than what I... have seen faunus be treated." Ruby had to remind herself not to reveal anything about her in return. "Why did you run off?"

"I'm not spending the rest of my life as an attraction." Neon growled. "Not if I'm quiet enough to sneak away, which I apparently am."

"What do you want to spend the rest of your life as?" Ruby inquired. "I mean, I don't think you have many options."

"I'll take what I can get." The girl shrugged. "I think I can slip into the city easily enough, even if I have to climb the walls to get in. It's a large place, easy for one person to disappear. From then on I can try searching through garbage for a living, or maybe try stealing from the folk there."

"Doesn't sound very fun." Ruby pointed out.

"Well it's probably more comfortable than living as a slave, and no more dangerous than being a runaway already is. If things get really bad, maybe I can find someone to serve in exchange for not ratting me out. I won't be really free, but at least that choice will be mine."

"Maybe you should make that choice right away?" Ren suggested. "I have a rather large estate in Mistral, one that could always use some domestic help. If you pointed me towards your owners I could perhaps legally buy you and have you do something more pleasant."

" I'm not wasting my shot at freedom." Neon replied. "I appreciate the offer though. Unless it was just a trick to capture me more easily, in which case fuck you."

Ruby gasped quietly. She should have expected that a runaway wouldn't be as respectful as most faunus would, but damn, this girl had some serious balls. Well not literally, probably, but she was braver than most.

Luckily for her, Ren didn't seem offended. To the contrary, he shook his head with what seemed to be an amused smile. "I keep my promises. If that's your choice, I can only wish you luck."

"Thanks. And thanks for saving me, I guess. But it's getting late and I'd rather get to the city before it gets dark, so... can I go now?"

Ren simply replied with a nod. Ruby wasn't sure what to say, so she just mimicked him.

"Right. I'd say I hope we meet again, but I really hope we don't." Neon turned around and marched off. "Thanks again, though."

Ren and Ruby watched the girl disappear, which took quite a while given how she stood out from the white and green scenery of the forest. Only when she was out of sight did Ren turn to face the other faunus again. "Our new friend was right about one thing, certainly. It is getting late, and you seem quite tired already."

"A little." Ruby admitted. It wasn't any sort of physical effort, but rather the emotions that made her feel really worn out. "Do we go back then?"

Ren nodded and started walking, gesturing for Ruby to follow. She obeyed, rather eagerly, as she wanted this day over as soon as possible. But at the same time, she felt as some things needed to be talked about, and sooner rather than lather...

"Just to be clear, you were honest right there?" She asked as they trekked through the forest. "We're not going to report that girl, or follow her stealthily or anything?"

"Why would you think I did lie?" Ren replied with a question. "Returning her would likely get her severely punished and it would certainly make her unhappy. I don't want that. It's as simple as that."

"Well I get it, it's just unusual, you know? For a human..."

"Do you think it's impossible for a human to care about a faunus?" Ren looked a little saddened, maybe offended. "You lived with my friend for a while now, and he seems to prove that view wrong."

"No, I mean even more unusual than that." Ruby replied, to which Ren raised an eyebrow. "Not in a bad way! It's just... you are always so polite. Not just nice, I know that's a thing, but polite. Like you weren't talking to a faunus, but some human lady you were trying to impress."

"Ah, that. I suppose it 's an effect of cultural discrepancy more than anything else."

"Cultural what?" Ruby could recall hearing that word used once, but not having anyone explain to her. Like with most hard words, really.

"Forgive me, it means... well, let me explain." Ren said. "As I said just now, I hail from Mistral. In case you didn't know, it's a distant land with its own centuries of culture, largely separate from the rest of Remnant. It's where I spent the first few years of my life and the last several, so my behavior might seem strange from someone not used to dealing with foreigners."

"But you do keep slaves in Mistral right?"

"We do, and we had since the ancient times. But that's precisely the thing." Ren jumped over a branch without paying it the slightest bit of attention. "Holding slaves is a part of our culture, of the higher classes at least. We have developed a set of customs regarding that, and we consider manners important in general. Mistreating your slaves is considered uncultured and even lightly punished in some places."

"That's not really the case in Vale..." Ruby murmured with some envy towards her brethren from across the ocean.

"Exactly. If I recall my history lessons correctly, Vale has more of a... complicated history with the faunus. Most recently, the Faunus Rebellions have turned the general public against your species, causing some people to be outward malicious rather than simply uncaring, and Vale is not dependent on slave labor enough so that slaves are highly valued. I know your experiences were harsh, but globally speaking, they're the exception. You were simply born in the wrong place, at the wrong time."

"I guess I was." Ruby mumbled. That actually did explain a thing or two. "So you are fine with faunus being enslaved, but not with being mistreated?"

"I didn't say that." Ren shook his head. "I am not satisfied with the way things are right now. I would much rather the faunus were free, I'm just not enthused about them being freed."

"I don't think I follow." Ruby scratched her head.

"I'm not being very clear, am I?" Silence was Ren's answer. "Well, let's say my experience taught me a few things. Has Jaune told you anything about our time as students?"

"Not much. Nothing specific, anyway."

"Right. I guess it's only proper of him." Ren suspired. "Well, there was a Grimm once. One very old and quite powerful , more than just a Beowolf or any of the mindless beasts roaming the forests. It actually had a mind, and used it to make a reputation for itself. People called it Nuckelavee."

"Sounds creepy." Ruby commented.

"It was rather scary. It definitely seemed terrifying as it destroyed my home village." Ren replied, not a single emotion showing on his face.

"Oh." Ruby slumped. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was personal."

"It's alright. I made peace with my past long ago, in a rather violent way. Right after we received our huntsman licenses, we flew to Anima to hunt the beast down. For me it was a matter of vengeance more than anything else, others went along with it because they thought it would make me feel more at peace. Team JNPR, hunting down one of the most dangerous Grimm in Remnant together."

"Did you find it?" Ruby asked. "Did you fight it?"

"Yes and no. We did track it down, which wasn't particularly hard. But once we found it, we did not fight. We simply killed it."

"I... don't understand." Ruby honestly said.

"It wasn't a fight in any meaningful sense." For the first time since Ruby first saw him, Ren started to look angry. No, that wasn't quite the right word, more like... frustrated? "It felt more like slaughtering an animal that could do nothing but trash around. Nuckelavee might have been unstoppable for regular people, but it couldn't do much against trained huntsmen. We could have fought it without preparation, without Pyrrha at our side and not having finished a single year at Beacon and we still would have done it. It hardly felt like a victory."

"If it was so weak, why did nobody kill it before that?" Ruby couldn't make sense out of what she was hearing.

"Nobody cared. Simple as that. After Kuroyuri got wiped off the map, people mourned, but never enough to avenge it. And afterwards the monster switched to roaming the wilderness, never threatening the Kingdom proper. It was a problem, but it wasn't enough of a problem for anyone to hire a full team to take it down. We were just the first to seriously try."

"Oh. But killing it did bring you some peace, right?"

"For a while, yes. But it didn't feel like enough, not quite. After the battle I opted to stay in Kuroyuri and try to rebuild it, restore it to what it once was. I thought I could honor my family's memory in this way and Nora was willing to stay with me. It seemed like a good way to spend a few years, maybe even a lifetime."

"Did it work?" Ruby asked, not expecting a positive answer.

"It's still working. Or rather I'm working on it, as the only professional huntsman in the area. The first year was difficult enough, trying to convince people to settle in a place with such history, but once that succeeded the whole thing turned into an organizational nightmare. I could barely handle all the stress and Nora, well, she couldn't really handle it at all. I didn't realize it at the time, but the place carried even more awful memories for her than it did for me. She was living on the streets, there you know? I was a fool to drag her into this."

"I don't think it's your fault." Ruby made an attempt at comforting the huntsman. "And she seems happy now..."

"Yes. Things have gotten better since, we found new solutions. But it wasn't easy. You understand what I'm trying to say?"

"Not really." Ruby replied. "Sorry. How does it all connect?"

"Killing things is easy. Sometimes, at least. It's usually straightforward and it's practically always possible, if you know how to approach the problem. You only have to consider how to achieve a single goal, defeat one enemy. But building thing, creating, making people happy... it's hard. Sometimes close to impossible. Especially if you only got to this point through violence. Do you understand now?"

"I... I think." Ruby blinked, pieces falling into place in her head. "You think freeing the faunus is easy, but keeping them free and happy is hard?"

"Precisely." Ren nodded, satisfied that he was getting through. "If all people, or even most people decided that slavery was wrong, they could abolish it with little obstacle. Perhaps even a small group could do it, like the White fang is attempting to. And almost anyone can barge into a slaveowner's house and hit them in the head. But what exactly do you do with slaves afterwards? Do you exile them and tell them to build their own society, even though they have no idea how? Do you keep them around, in a society they have no standing in? Do you empower them, even though they might seek vengeance against their masters? It's not an easy question."

"And you don't think you know the answer." Ruby stated more than asked.

"I do have my ideas, but they're just that. Ideas that only someone more powerful than I could bring into effect. Right now, I'm just trying to help wherever I can, without causing needless conflict. That's why I can't help Jaune with his plans, even though I sympathize. We just have different views like that."

"I see." To her own surprise, Ruby really did see the reasoning there. It wasn't that dissimilar to what she believed herself, only presented well and based on actual experience rather than some musings and guesses.

She had to admit, Ren seemed really... sane. Yeah, that was the best word. He was smart too, but that wasn't anything special, most humans were smarter than her. But most were also weird in some way, either getting upset for the most petty reasons, asking to be eaten by Grimm, believing in sloths or simply running around with oversized weapons. Not that faunus were any better, with their Adams and Blakes yelling about a revolution as they struggled to stay alive against the murderous machines humans sent at them. That girl, Neon, was one of the more reasonable ones by the virtue of having some sort of plan, but it wasn't a good one with how it almost ended with her getting eaten. Unusual or not, Ren was probably the most sane individual she met in a while, possibly ever. That knowledge almost made her feel safe as the two of them marched through the Grimm-infested forest.

Almost.

"Sorry to break the mood, but how far do we have to go?" Ruby asked. "I don't want us to be late."

"Rest assured, we should arrive even before the scheduled time." Ren replied. "I was never too late for any trip that involved killing hordes of Grimm amidst explosions and uncontrolled gunfire."

"Wait what?" Ruby blinked. "Are your trips really that... exciting?"

"Usually. When we feel too positive to attract any Grimm, we just let Nora drink as much coffee as she wants and see what comes out of that. There is a lot of explosions then as well."

"I think I have to rethink some things I thought about you." Ruby murmured. "In a good way, of course."

"I'm flattered." Ren smiled. "But let's keep going. We are almost at the gates."

* * *

**Here it is. This chapter ended up being more talk-y than I originally intended, possibly bordering on being an exposition dump, but there are some things I thought were worth talking about, especially since I did remember some request to delve deeper into the backstory of Team JNPR in this universe. And frankly, I enjoyed writing some of that – I actually intended to end this chapter even later, but I realized that I have already written over three thousand words full of vague philosophy. Oh well.**


	13. Alone in a Crowd

**So, in between this chapter and the last one, the first couple of chapters got translated to Russian by one of the readers. I can't give you a link due to the nature of this site and I can't even type the name of the site without Cyrillic symbols, but you have my word that it's officially a thing that exists. **

**I'm mostly just baffled. I generally don't consider my stories worth reading in any language, so people wanting to spread them in this way is a novelty to me. But it's still kind of cool to see.**

* * *

The platform was filled with people. Maybe not to the point of being _crowded, _there was still plenty of room to move around, but enough so that it was hard to see the railway because of all the bodies in the way. They were all waiting for the next train to arrive, loads of people who all desperately needed to be somewhere else. Some were standing underneath the concrete pillars, some were walking around nervously, and only a lucky few were occupying the benches on the far side of the platform.

Ruby did not like crowds very much. Too many people walking around, making loud noises, occasionally throwing her an unfriendly stare and being generally threatening. But after spending some time in a dark, silent, Grimm-infested forest, having some people around her felt quite nice, even if they were almost all human strangers.

And it wasn't like they posed much threat to her. She was no longer in her combat outfit, having changed soon before she reentered Vale, but her tail was tucked behind the texture of her pants, making her mostly indistinguishable from yet another human. Besides, not _everyone _around her was a stranger – she still had a familiar huntsman to watch over her.

"This is where we agreed to meet." Ren announced as the two of them walked onto the platform. "I don't see Jaune and Nora anywhere, but I think they'll be here soon enough. They just need to pick up one last person."

"So I guess we just wait." Ruby wasn't sure why she decided to come with Ren all the way to the station. She had no solid reason to be there – Jaune would ride off with his teammates to have their little trip, but she would end up returning home anyway. But the idea of letting Jaune leave without seeing him off seemed unpleasant, for some unknown reason. But whatever, she had time to spare. "Who is this fourth person anyway? It's not... um, anyone I heard about?"

"It's not Pyrrha, if that's what you're asking." Ren suspired. "We're not seeing her very often and today is no exception."

"I know." Ruby quickly said. "Shouldn't have brought that up. I'm sorry."

Unexpectedly, Ren chuckled softly, as though remembering something funny. "Sorry. I really think you and Pyrrha would get along superbly. You both had a habit of apologizing perhaps a little too often."

"Sorry." Ruby replied, earning another amused smile from Ren for some reason. "But I don't think we would have gotten together very well."

"Why is so?" Ren raised an eyebrow. "I assure you, she doesn't mind your kind any more than I do and she's pleasant to interact with in general."

"It's not that it's... Well..." Ruby regretted having dug deeper into the topic, but refusing to explain herself would probably make things even worse. "She hates Jaune, and I definitely don't. So there is that."

"I don't think hate is the right word. It's more like..." Ren spent a few seconds searching for a right word, before giving up with a sigh. "I suppose you would like to know what happened?"

"I guess? I won't poke about, but I wouldn't mind knowing a little a more." Ruby inquired, a tiny spark of curiosity letting itself show.

"It's better if you learn it from me then. If Jaune ever feels like telling you about it, he'll probably make himself look worse than he deserves. The truth is... complicated."

"In what way?" Ruby asked.

"A multitude. You see, this was right after our battle with Nuckelavee, a year or so after we officially graduated. We were all adjusting to a new type of life and recovering from some... unpleasant incidents. We were all young and optimistic, but we all had more problems than we cared to admit. Jaune was no exception, neither was Pyrrha, and the two of them together were just a bundle of problems even then."

"What kind of problems? Did they not get along?"

"I obviously wasn't eavesdropping on them, so I can only speculate. But no, I don't think they made for a very good couple. They were from different backgrounds, had different personalities, different ideas as to how they should proceed. Eventually some major argument broke out and, well, they parted ways."

"Jaune said it was his fault." Ruby said, remembering conversation they had a while ago. "Do you think he's right?"

"I reserve no right to judge my friends, especially based on incomplete information." Ren state neutrally.

"But you sided with Jaune, right? I mean, you're not hanging out with Pyrrha right now..."

"We didn't pick a side, Ruby." Ren interrupted, his voice unusually firm. "If we had a choice, we would probably be trying to bring the team back together, or maybe just sit back home not wanting to make a choice. But Pyrrha... she didn't just break ties with Jaune. She broke ties with more or less everyone. She returned to her old career and basically kept beating people up until she felt a little better. We rarely get to talk with her and I bet she isn't that close even with her own family."

"That sounds a little extreme." Ruby pointed out. She knew a breakup could make people really angry, but humans who broke up with somebody were rarely withdrawn. Rather they would loudly cry, sulk and generally be extra annoying until they finally got over it.

"That's one of these problems I mentioned. Pyrrha came to Beacon without any real friends and she didn't make many friends even while in Beacon. When me and Nora settled down, Pyrrha didn't really have anyone to rely on other than Jaune. She was dependent, not in any material way, but emotionally. There is a danger in such relationships, even ones that seem to work well. That's why she took it so hard when the two of them broke up."

"I guess I can see it." Ruby conceded. Her grasp on such matters was limited, but she supposed losing someone you relied on could make a person sad.

"I don't think there's any point reminiscing about the past so much. Let's stop, lest your friends arrive to see us troubled and sullen."

"Right." Ruby decided it would pay off to change the subject. "So, who are you bringing along on this trip? You didn't end up telling me."

"Oh well..." Ren averted his eyes. It seemed like he had trouble finding words again, but now he looked more awkward about it. Almost embarrassed. "Forgive me, I just thought you might react badly. For no solid reason too, I just had a feeling."

"Well that sounds kind of silly." Ruby said. "Why would I react badly to someone I never met before?"

Ren wanted to answer, but then suddenly jerked his head sideways, as though he heard or somehow sensed something coming from that direction. Indeed, several silhouettes stood out from the grey crowd as they walked towards the platform. Ruby recognized Jaune right away – he was wearing some sort of armor instead of his usual clothing or a combat attire, but there was no confusing that tall posture and blond hair. Nora was pretty easy to recognize too, if not by appearance then by just how energetic she was when compared to everyone around her.

The last person was harder to identify, though easy to mark as unusual. A short girl, about Nora's height and only taller than Ruby due to the heels she wore. Yes, she apparently went catch a train in high heels, as well as in pristine-looking white dress and equally white hair flowing down almost to the ground in a ponytail. She reminded Ruby of the illustrations of what a princess looked like in these old fairy-tale books, except even more over-the-top.

Ruby forced off that comparison. The girl was probably just a huntress who happened to be slightly more unusual than the average. Maybe Jaune just wanted to bring non-teammate friend from school times.

"Here you are!" Nora exclaimed cheerfully as she ran forwards to meet them. For a moment she looked as though she was trying to decide who to hug, but she failed to decide before Jaune overtook her.

"It's nice to see you made it." He said, looking genuinely relieved. "And sorry if we're a bit late. Picking Weiss up from the airport took longer than expected."

Wait, did that name sound familiar somehow?

"You can't blame the security for doing their job." The girl in white said. "But I'm also glad to have arrived. It is good to see you, Ren, as well as..." Her eyes went over to Ruby, who shrank down a little under the stare of cold-blue eyes.

"Right, I'm sorry." Jaune didn't seem aware of how uncomfortable Ruby felt, nor did he notice the other girl's eyes narrowing slightly. "Weiss, this is Ruby. Ruby, this is Weiss Schnee, my old friend. Um, are you feeling alright?"

That last question was probably prompted by Ruby quickly changing position and stepping behind Ren's back. To which, of course, she had an excellent reason.

"Why would you bring her here?" Ruby asked, almost screaming due to shock. "Don't you know who she is?"

"Excuse me!?" The Schnee huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "Do _you _have any idea who you're talking too?"

"I'm sorry!" Ruby remembered herself. "Please don't eat me!"

"You... you would insinuate..." The girl in white apparently wasn't sure how to reply, but her face got a little redder, which suggested she was either angry or embarrassed. Ruby guessed the former, which was all the more reason for her to be afraid.

"Looks like the beginning of some great friendship." Nora commented.

"I... don't understand." Jaune scratched his head. "She can be awkward around humans, but she never reacts that badly..."

"But of course." Weiss Schnee sighed. " I should not get angry. After all, what can I expect from a faunus who wasn't taught proper manners."

"That's not fair." Jaune protested. "I told you, she doesn't usually..."

"No, I think Weiss knows what's the issue." Ren cut in. He then turned towards Ruby, who was currently considering abandoning her cover and simply making a run for it. "Ruby, what do you know of the Schnee family? You may speak freely."

"Well, I know they work faunus to death, kill them when they're not useful and hang their skin on the walls." Ruby answered, bringing up only a fraction of the rumors she heard about that particular family.

"That's not true..." The Schnee said, though Ruby could hear her voice crack. "Well, not all of it!"

"It doesn't have to be." Ren replied. "Rumors spread in many ways, and I doubt there are much people who would educate their slaves to be less afraid."

"Alright, I see what's the problem." Jaune sighed. "Look, we still have a few minutes before the train arrives. Leave me and Ruby for a moment."

Jaune then went on to grab Ruby and, with only a token effort to be gentle, dragging her away from the centre of the platform where people could give them worried looks and towards the toilet room. Ruby did not like leaving the cover that Ren provided, but was more than glad to increase distance between her and the threat, so she went along without fuss.

"Alright, that is really awkward." Jaune said once they were behind closed doors, with no one to eavesdrop on them. "But maybe I can alleviate."

"I don't know that word, but if that means that Schnee girl won't drink my blood or play golf with my head, then please do that." Ruby requested.

"Ruby..." Jaune sighed. "I'm guessing humans told you awful stuff about the Schnees to intimidate you, didn't they? Or maybe they told that to other faunus, and they passed the information to you?"

"Both, actually. But were they lying? You know that the Schnees work faunus to death with that company of theirs."

"Alright, that part is true." Jaune admitted reluctantly. "But you shouldn't judge Weiss based on that. She's not a murderer and she does happen to be my friend."

"Well I figured out the last part." Ruby murmured. "You wouldn't have invited her otherwise. But how the hell did that happen?"

"Well, everything comes down to Beacon. Weiss arrived there from Atlas, part of an exchange program associated with that year's Vytal Festival. She was training to become a huntress, just like me or my teammates. We had that to bond over, if nothing else."

"Why though? I mean, why would she want to become a huntress?" Ruby asked. "Doesn't she have like a pool of golden coins to swim in? Don't see why she would need a job."

"Well for one she feels like saving people, which is something rich folk are perfectly capable of. Other than that... well, it's both complicated and sort of private. I don't feel comfortable spilling it out, but if you ask her she might just explain."

Ruby rejected that idea in an instant. "Nevermind, I'll just assume she has her reasons. But what on Remnant brought the two of you together?"

"Well, at first it was just that I thought she was pretty. I tried hitting on her, get her to go out on a date with me or something like that." Jaune cringed as he saw Ruby look at him as though he admitted to having committed genocide. "Look, I thought better of it. She clearly wasn't interested and I was being a bit of a creep about it."

"And you still became friends after that?" Ruby raised an eyebrow on that.

"And we still became friends after that." Jaune nodded. "We huntsmen sort of work like this. It doesn't take much time to develop friendships with people you fight alongside. And Weiss often hanged out with us, more than with her actual team. She... well, I don't want to get into details, but she needed friends, and the guys from Atlas didn't really provide it. It wasn't even her plan to go to Atlas originally, it just sort of... ended up like this."

For all her lack of social skills, Ruby could figure out Jaune preferred not to tell her too much. That was fine, as long as none of the stuff he kept secret was important. "Look, can you just... be careful when you're out there? Like I know she won't kill you or anything if you're friends, but still..."

"Ruby, I can't force you to like Weiss, but have some trust here. We've been through some really dangerous mishaps together and we didn't think of abandoning the other one, let alone turning on each other. That little trip will just be the way for us to reminisce about old times and kill some things that don't actually pose a threat to us. Everything will be fine by the time I come back, I promise."

That wasn't the only problem though. Ruby could buy that the Schnee posed no physical threat, but she still didn't like the idea of her spending time with Jaune. She could tell him some awful stuff about the faunus, or make him more greedy, or just make him less nice by giving a bad example. Or maybe she would act against him in some way, buy out his business, discover and reveal some of his secrets or turn his other friends against him. Ruby had no proof any of that would happen, but it definitely could. There was so much for her to worry about...

...and no way she could explain any of it without Jaune dismissing her.

"Just be careful and stuff, okay?" Ruby only said. "I'm pretty sure you said something about always keeping your guard up."

"Maybe I am getting cocky." Jaune smiled. "I promise I'll be careful with the Grimm. Speaking of..." Jaune's expression suddenly changed. Not quite to a frown, but definitely troubled. "How did your training with Ren go? Nothing unexpected"

"Oh, it went fine. I think. We killed a few Grimm, none of them managed to wound us." Ruby replied honestly. "I mean, there was one unexpected thing, but not in a bad way."

"What was that?" Jaune asked, sounding unusually strident.

"Well we found a faunus in the woods." Ruby said, keeping her voice down. "Some circus girl on the run. Ren told her off for almost getting eaten and send her on her way."

"Ah... that's good. Really nice to hear that." Jaune's tone suggested he didn't quite mean what he said. "But say, did you feel anything unusual when facing Grimm?"

"Well I felt really scared, though I think it's pretty usual."

"Well, nevermind. I just..." A loud sound could be heard from behind the door, one that Ruby figured was the train arriving. "Look, I'll have to leave in a moment. You know the way home, and you have your own set of keys. I left some money on the counter, so you probably won't starve to death. Also the gym will be closed, so you can come there an train whenever you want. Will you be fine on your own."

"I guess." Ruby replied, not really feeling it.

"Take care then." Jaune replied, before turning back towards the door. He paused as he was opening it, as though contemplating something, but then passed the frame and went off into the crowded platform.

Ruby did not like seeing her owner leave, but didn't have anything to say either. She would not stop him, she didn't have anything important to ask him and she certainly had nothing interesting to say. So she just watched him board the train alongside other huntsmen, from afar as to not get too close to that Schnee girl. For a moment she wondered if saying goodbye to Ren or Nora would be worth that risk, but decided against it too. She would probably be just a bother. They were among friends now and didn't need to waste their time with some faunus girl who already took so much of their time.

After a few moments the train took off, leaving the platform mostly empty. That was nice, though with nothing more of interest to her, Ruby had no reason to stay there, crowd or no crowd. Honestly, this sight only made her sadder. She wasn't sure why, but it felt even less pleasant to stand on an empty platform then a full one. It was more quiet and there was more space to move, but it felt all the more wrong for that.

Ruby bucked up. She needed to decide what to do for the rest of the day. She obviously wasn't going to stay on the train station, but returning to an empty house didn't seem all that appealing either. She never particularly enjoyed sitting there alone, especially during daytime when the emptiness was all the more apparent. But then again, wasting the rest of the day by wandering about wouldn't be very industrious of her.

Given the situation, there was only one option for her to take.

/-/

A sudden noise disrupted the air as a bullet left the confines of the barrel and flew towards its target. It flew besides the head, missing the mark by a wide margin, before soaring even further and impacting the limestone of the wall split second later.

Ruby sighed. She had been practicing shooting for a few hours now, using mannequins from the gym's storerooms as her targets. Initially she was worried she'll use too much and end up being wasteful, but it proved to be no issue – she was yet to actually hit anything with that brand new gun of hers.

It wasn't the fault of the gun itself, of course. Crescent Rose did exactly what it was supposed to, never malfunctioned and in the hands of a good marksman it would be a truly deadly weapon. The problem was, Ruby wasn't a good marksman. She was, just as could be expected, a terrible shot unable to hit anything larger than a wall. Heck, at one point she missed even that and ended up shooting through the window instead. Almost hitting a random part of the dummy was the closest thing to a success she achieved during the last three hours.

Was that sort of thing normal? Was she unusually bad? Orr maybe she was doing better than most beginners? She didn't know because there was no one who could judge her performance. She really wished Jaune was with her – maybe he couldn't teach her much, but at least he could tell her how well she was doing.

Instead he was off, hunting Grimm with his teammates and that Schnee girl who probably had some evil agenda. Really, Ruby had half a mind to just drop everything and search for her owner, even though she didn't know where to look and doing so would be unbelievably insolent of her. She was just really worried something would happen; Either to Jaune as he fought monsters in the wild, or to her as she sat there with no one wiser or stronger to protect her.

No, that wasn't everything. She was anxious, yes, but more than that she felt... alone. Well of course, she evidently was alone, but now she was alone in this weirdly unpleasant way. Even when she listened to her voice of reason and managed to believe that she was mostly safe, she still didn't feel all that comfortable.

Ruby looked through the window. The sun had set a while ago, but while Vale was at night, it was hardly dark. Millions of lights were shining, even moreso than normally, as countless humans went about their business or were just having fun in their various ways. It was probably because they prepared for an upcoming holiday where they would trade various things and loudly argue about a 'Christmas Spirit' and how arguments were killing it. Or something like that.

In any case, it was about time she went home. Ruby folded her weapon and then placed it inside a nearby chest – while Crescent Rose was easy to conceal, she really feared of what would happen if someone, by some chance, spotted a faunus with a high-caliber sniper rifle running around. Going out without a weapon also seemed kind of scary, but that wasn't a rational fear – Ruby had long learned that an aura user was as good as invincible against normal people, let alone random thugs from the streets.

As a matter of fact, she kind of enjoyed these walks throughout the city she would occasionally go on. There were some crowds, sure, but she was free to choose routes as she saw fit and avoid these. And as she did, she realized that Vale was actually sort of pretty, if you didn't look at anything too closely.

As Ruby exited the gym, closing the door behind her, she entered a narrow, cobbled alley. It led onto a larger street, made from asphalt and with many vehicles driving through it, but it also had a rather pleasant sidewalk for the pedestrians, of which there were a few. Lamps were placed strategically along the street, shining brightly enough to make everything visible despite the darkness of the night. For Ruby these were a little bit too bright, so she kept her gaze low, only paying enough attention to her surroundings so that she wouldn't bump into anyone.

It worked well enough. No one paid much attention to her, at least not enough to approach her. Even when she entered a more building-dense area, with shops and restaurants of all kinds taking up every corner, she felt almost invisible, even in the bright lights of all the lanterns and colorful signs. As safe as it made her feel, it was also... sad. Somehow. For some reason.

_I think there is a word for it. Lonely._

Ruby told her voice of reason to shut up. She didn't feel 'lonely'. Only people with no real problems cared about thing like loneliness. She was smarter than that, less petty, she knew that at the moment she was better off than most faunus, maybe better off than most people and that her being left alone for few days wasn't even a good thing to be bothered by. She knew all of that.

But that didn't change the way she felt.

Her stupidity be damned, but she really didn't feel fine. Being in this crowd only made it worse, made her feel more vulnerable. She needed to think, to calm down, to knock some sense into that head of hers. She quickly located the next door, trotted to it and passed through, hoping it wasn't closed or full of people.

Her prayers have been answered, seemingly. After a quick scan she realized she entered some sort of a library, maybe a book store – she wasn't sure what the difference was. In any case, there was a lot of books of all sizes and colors, arranged neatly on the shelves that covered each and every wall or the room. The place was largely empty, both of people and of furniture, except of the counter on the other end of the room and a large man who stood behind it and looked at Ruby with surprise.

"Sorry." Ruby blurted out immediately, as she back off towards the door. "I just wanted to, um, check this place out. If you want me to leave I can..."

"No!" The man said hurriedly. "I'm sorry if I came off as rude, young lady. I was just surprised someone would come here at this hour."

Ruby ceased and took a better look at the man. He was tall and broad which would normally be quite intimidating, but he otherwise didn't look scary. He had a smooth face with noticeable sideburns, black just like his short-cropped hair. Dressed in a brown shirt, he looked perfectly normal, which Ruby considered a positive quality having met so many strange-looking people recently. His 'young lady' greeting weirded her out a little, but she supposed that was a consequence of looking like a human.

"Why wouldn't people come here?" Ruby asked, stepping deeper inside the shop. "It seems cozy. Do they just dislike books?"

"Many people are averse to reading, yes." The man said, walking towards Ruby. "But it's mostly that books do not make for good gifts. Too boring, too cheap, people will say. The business isn't doing very good at this time of the year."

"Sorry about that." Ruby didn't know much about business, but she could feel sympathy towards someone getting screwed over by humanity's strange habits.

"It doesn't affect me very much." The man shrugged. "I'm not the one who owns the place and it matters little to me whether or not it goes bankrupt. My name is Tukson, by the way."

"Um, Ruby." She wasn't sure whether introducing herself was a good idea, but it felt only proper to do so. "So I guess you just work here?"

"That's... not exactly the best way to put it." Tukson said, before extending his hand towards Ruby. In the first moment she thought it was a greeting and she was supposed to shake the man's hand, but then, almost in an instant, small yet sharp claws protruded from each of the fingers.

"You're a faunus." Ruby stated her realization. "You serve here."

"Indeed." Tukson nodded. "I have a fairly pleasant task and most clients don't even realize I'm a faunus, so they rarely bother me. But at the end of the day, I am just another slave. Just like you."

Ruby tensed. She was so sure of the quality of her disguise, she forgot what to do once it failed. She could still make a run for it, even without using her semblance, even without betraying anything she was agile enough to just slip away and then...

"I didn't mean it in a bad way." Tukson said when he noticed her worry. "I don't have to mention it if you don't want me to. I was just seeking confirmation."

Right. The guy knew she was a faunus, but didn't know anything else about her. He had no reason to assume she was with the White Fang, or even dangerous in any way or form.

"It's fine." Ruby said, relaxing just a little bit. "But how did you know in the first place? I didn't think it was obvious."

"Not to most people. But most people are humans, and they can be awfully oblivious about certain things. You seemed afraid of me from the moment you entered, keep looking around like you've never seen such a place before and, of all things, me unsheathing my claws doesn't bother you. Most humans don't act that way. There was only one conclusion for me to reach."

"I guess that makes sense." Ruby murmured. "Do you still want me to stay?"

"I rarely get a chance to meet others of my kind, so i definitely won't mind." Tukson nodded, before worry crossed his face. "Though if you are off work, or running away, this place is not the best hiding spot."

"I'm not a runaway." Ruby huffed. "I have a master, and I don't think he minds me being here."

"You are welcome, then." The man said as he made his way back towards the counter. "You may browse through the books if you want. We have every book in the world, or so the motto states. You may even buy one, if you have the lien to pay."

Ruby opened her mouth to refuse, but thought better of it. She _did _have some money with her and if she was going to use it for anything, a small thing like a book was not a bad choice. Maybe it would make her feel better somehow.

She took a closer look at the books, more specifically the titles. She had little clue as to what they meant – most of them were a phrase or just a single word that didn't mean anything without context. Was _A Man With Two Souls_ some kind of a documentary about a crazy guy? Maybe it was a horror novel? Or maybe it was just another trashy romance book? She had no way to know, and even if she could assess what the book was about, she wouldn't know if it was any good.

Why did anyone even buy books? It was gambling, really. Though as far as she knew, gamblers actually told you the rules of the game and didn't try to cheat from the very start with a catchy title. Writers had to be really awful people, on par with the Schnees.

Still, there had to be something in that small library that Ruby would find interesting. She browsed and browsed, until something caught her eye. It was a thing book, in an unassuming brown cover, though the words on the side were written in golden letters. _Fairy Tales of Remnant. _If nothing else, the title was telling.

Cautiously, Ruby pulled out the book and then started leafing through it. It contained, no surprise there, fairy tales, or at least it appeared so from the illustrations. Ruby couldn't place it, but something about it seemed... familiar. Like a long-lost memory.

"Found something?" Tukson asked, before walking up to Ruby and taking a peak."Ah. The collection of classic fairy tales. Not the worst choice as far as I'm concerned."

"I didn't say I'm choosing it." Ruby protested. "But... I think I remember something like it. Maybe I read that as a kid, or had that read to me."

"I see." Tukson said. "If you feel embarrassed, don't. Caressing old memories is a part of the reason people buy books, instead of simply borrowing them."

"I think I'll take it." Ruby decided. "How much is it, then?"

The price did not impress Ruby very much. It was more than she would be normally trusted with, but far less than the total Jaune gave her before departing. Either she had quite a sum on her hand, or books were quite cheap. Either way, she pulled out a small bundle of lien bills and handed it over.

"Payment accepted." Tukson said as he handily pocketed the bills and drew out a coin as a change. "Where does this money come from, anyway?"

"You still think I might be on the run? Or stealing from someone?"

"I highly doubt that's the reason." Tukson replied. "Nervous or not, you seem pretty well-kept and you don't seem afraid of spending money. You appear to be in a good condition, likely not treated badly."

"You sure are perceptive." Ruby tried to deflect the question.

"Part of my job is guessing what the clients are looking for, and spotting potential shoplifters. I'm good at reading people. And curious of those I can't read easily. So I request again, may you tell me what you're doing? Do you know a trade that makes you valuable, or maybe you have a trick that helps you out?"

So he was persistent as well. Ruby briefly considered giving an outright lie, but that probably wouldn't work very well. She could simply refuse to answer, but that would be even more suspicious than even an obvious falsehood. But while she couldn't tell the full truth, obviously, maybe telling a part of it wasn't a bad solution.

"My master is just sort of nice to me." Ruby replied, after a long while. "And he knows I won't run away, so he doesn't mind me being away."

"You're hesitant to say it." Tukson noted. "But I think I know what you mean."

Crap. Was this guy somehow able to discover her secrets just by talking to her? It didn't seem very probable, but it was a huge problem if true. "You know? How?"

"Like with everything else, there is a pattern. A well-off faunus is an exception to the rule, but there are reasons humans might care about their slaves. I doubt you are a skilled professional, you appear to young for that. But I know one reason for why someone would keep a pretty young woman healthy and content."

It took Ruby a moment to process what she heard. Once had, she dropped the book on the floor as she felt her face turn red. "What? No, I'm... I mean I'm not..."

"I don't mean to accuse you of anything." Tukson said calmingly. "You should never be ashamed of the things you're forced into, only the ones you chose for yourself. And if it's a secret, I swear I will keep it."

Ruby wanted to protest some more, but bit her tongue quickly enough. Better to let the man believe in a lie than hint at the truth. "Right. Why did you wish to know that, again?"

"Again, just wanted a confirmation. I have seen such cases before and I was just wondering if you wanted to talk about it."

"I obviously didn't though?" Ruby pointed out.

"Yes, but..." Tukson sighed. "I'm sorry for being intrusive. I just want to help in any way I can."

"I think I can manage." Ruby replied. "I mean, it is a little tough for me, but it could be worse."

"I suppose being happy with what you have is admirable in a way." Tukson said. "In any case, it there something else you want?"

Was there? Ruby didn't think so. She already had more than she came to this shop for and, at the moment, she really preferred to be somewhere else. "I think I should go now. Goodbye."

Tukson nodded, which Ruby interpreted as a parting of his own. Ruby didn't waste any more time and made it to the door, pushing it open in the same motion.

And just like that, the awkward situation was over and she was back outside. On the cool, dimly-lit street, that hasn't gotten any emptier, with all these humans around her, her disguise imperfect...

She needed to go home. Ruby really needed to get home. Aura or not, she didn't feel safe out there. She maintained enough composure not to use her aura or semblance to get faster, but not enough to stop herself from running forwards until the crowd was firmly behind her.

/-/

Ruby passed through the door quickly and hastily closed it behind her. She was surprised at how nervous she was, given that there was no one chasing her, but she was really glad to be back home. Being inside closed walls immediately made her feel far safer. Although, being alone inside these closed walls with no weapon near her and no guarantee the house wouldn't get suddenly robbed...

_You're going paranoid. Calm the hell down. _Voice of Reason said, more firmly than usual. Ruby forced herself to relax, if only somewhat.

She put the book she had been carrying on top of a nearby drawer, not wishing to read it just yet. Putting all the words and sentences together was too much mental effort for her to expend. She settled for something easier, namely sitting down on a couch and turning on the TV.

The channel she was greeted to was broadcasting some kind of concert. _The Achieve Men _was the band's name, according to the caption. The camera kept switching from showing the small band to overlooking large crowd gathered before the stadium. The music was loud and not particularly to Ruby's liking, but she welcomed any sound to fill the silence.

It was silly. She had no reason to feel so shaken, nothing had happened. Sure, walking around at night was a little scary, but not really an actual danger and even that was over now. For some reason, she was moved but that meeting in the bookstore, even though it was only a casual conversation and a misunderstanding that should be more funny than anything else. Nothing to worry about...

_"But I know one reason for why someone would keep a pretty young woman healthy and content."_

Driven by a whim, Ruby stood up from the couch. She didn't turn the TV off, she would only be gone for a short moment. There was something she needed to check.

She passed through the living room and went into the bathroom, naturally finding it empty. She approached the sink and then leaned towards the mirror hanged right above it. She saw her own reflection, which in itself wasn't surprising in the slightest. There wasn't really anything surprising about it, nothing she didn't see the previous day, or the day before that. But now, for the first time in quite a while, Ruby focused on what she was seeing in that mirror.

Her skin was pale, even on her face, but it didn't look as unhealthy as it once did. Her eyes were silver as always, but there were no bags under them, which she would once consider an unusual state. The same lips that used to be dry and often bloodied now looked healthy and full. All these little things made her look far better than she did just a few months ago, apparently enough for some to consider her pretty.

Her body changed too, and in a rather positive way. Some of the fat she built up has accumulated in her tummy, but she also grew more curved and acquired some muscle mass. She may have grown a little taller too, though she was still definitely shorter than average. One the whole Ruby was no model, but definitely far from being ugly and not nearly as miserable-looking as she once was.

And the best thing about this was that it didn't truly matter. She didn't have to be afraid of looking too pretty or too ugly, because it would have next to no consequence either way. No one would take unwanted interest in her because she looked good and no one would sent her to the fields because she wasn't nice to the eye. The only times her appearance mattered was when she needed to be hard to recognize during a mission...

And here was the problem. Her life, no matter how good it was, could end during one of these raids she had no reason to be on. Or even during training, maybe during weapon forging if she ever touched that craft again.

_Why did you choose to take part in that terrorist business again? _The Voice of Reason asked. _Because from how you're thinking about it, it seems like the single worst thing in your life currently._

She had her reasons. The foremost of which was convincing her owner she was useful, unfit to be discarded or downright disposed of.

_Is that it? This reasoning made some sense back when you didn't know Jaune as well. Now it's pretty asinine. He probably won't leave you even if you stop being useful at all. You can literally tell him you changed your mind the next time you two meet._

Ruby shook her head, annoyed at her own thoughts. That wasn't an option because... because...

_I don't think it was fear that made you choose this path. It certainly wasn't the only factor._

Ruby could recall what exactly she was thinking back then, what thoughts ran through her head in the gym when her aura was unlocked. She remembered being driven by fear, yes, but maybe there really was something else, something she wasn't able to place...

_What was the real reason then? You wanted to impress your master? Or maybe you were just that terribly bored?_

Nothing as simple. Not one reason, for sure. But maybe the reason she chose the most reckless option available was because she knew she wouldn't be content with anything else.

_Why not? What is stopping you from just enjoying yourself? Is there something else you want?_

She wasn't sure... but yes, there had to be something, that was the only way to explain the way she felt. She wanted something, whatever it was, something she couldn't pin down...

_Why can't you just be happy?_

She didn't know.

* * *

**And so the best girl arrives. Someone speculated that maybe with the timeline being so different Jaune did not get to save Weiss like he did in canon, to which I can only say the following: Seriously? I like Weiss way too much to just leave her out of the story. She doesn't have many lines here, but that's because she has no reason to and a solid reason not to. She will be back, I promise.**

**As for Ruby, I'm hoping this chapter will appease the people who thought she got over her trauma too quickly. Yeah, I didn't handle that character aspect perfectly, but I'm fully aware that traumatic experiences, especially prolonged ones tend to mess people up. If you got the impression I'm downplaying these things then I'm sorry and I had no intention to. But yeah, she's still a mess, just in different ways she was at the start.**


End file.
